At The Edge of Darkness
by TheBoredBoot
Summary: Two different backgrounds, two different lives, this is the story of a two men who by one decision are set along a whole new path. The discovery of true love, a great mentor, and the forming of a new family to help leave the darkness of past behind them, as they meet challenges and make sacrifices for the greater good. Rated M for violence, language, and adult themes aka some smut.
1. Chapter 1

**At The Edge Of Darkness**

Made possible by the joint efforts of Keeper Of The One Winged Angel

and TheBoredBoot

 **AN: Hey Keeper of the One Winged Angel here reminding everyone, the RWBY characters in this fanfic belong Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum. The OC Morven Kenrich belongs to TheBoredBoot and Fenrir Argyros belongs to myself Keeper of the One Winged Angel. Besides the two OC's to this mostly canon story, there are also a couple changes to a few of the other main characters which could include, slight changes in personality and backstory. So before jumping the gun and saying that's not how a person would act you should wait and see the bigger picture.**

Chapter 1

"Winter... what part of I can do this delivery by myself do you not understand?" Morven sighed, trying to ignore how closely the white haired woman was following him, the distance between the two was miniscule at best and clouded his thoughts as they walked briskly through the forest.

"It could be the part where we are partners, or given the state the kingdoms are in since the fall of Beacon," Winter shot back before sighing. "It boils down to this I'm not going to let you out of my sight as long as we're together, after all I have to protect my partner."

Rolling his eyes behind his aviators, Morven sped up to get some personal space, thinking to himself. _"In all the years we've known each other Winter, when have I not been there protecting you?"_ Hiding the smile on his face the two of them continued on, occasionally pausing to check their scrolls for directions as they walked in an awkward silence, observing the forest around them.

After several minutes of walking, Winter quickened her pace till she caught up again trying to get his attention. "Morven," Winter's voice had a nervous tone to it as she looked at him asking, "do you think everything will work out and Remnant will be saved?"

"Of course Winter," Morven replied casually glancing at her giving her a confident nod, "after all its our job as Huntsman, Huntress, and as Specialists to protect man and Faunus."

"I'm serious Kay," Winter said, calling Morven by his old nickname, "I mean... Beacon fell, and rumor has it Ozpin is dead, if you aren't thinking that things are looking grimm for us, you're not taking this seriously enough."

"Looking Grimm for us, huh?" A smirk played across Morven face as it dawned on Winter, when she realized the unintentional pun she uttered Winter promptly shut up, her face turning red with embarrassment.

Walking a little further Morven sighed and then answered in a more serious tone, "I don't know, to be honest with you Winter, the situation is bad and with the other kingdoms pointing fingers at Atlas, it could only be a matter of time till full on war breaks out. If I was a gambling man, I would be willing to bet that that's exactly what the enemy is hoping for."

Going around one last bend the two had finally arrived at their destination and paused to admire it. The large two story house stood in the center of a large clearing, surrounded by flowers that gave off a soothing sense neither of them had felt for a good while, the homely atmosphere seemed to benefit from the location as they could see all manner of birds and other forest animals. Moving closer they could hear from the inside friendly talk and laughter sounding as they approached the house, the overall vibe reminding them that this is the reason they fight, to preserve this feeling from the darkness that the grimm would bring.

"This seems like a rather peaceful place, so secluded and away from the troubles of the rest of the world." Morven heard Winter whisper, "a almost genuine safe haven to raise a family."

"Yeah I know exactly what you mean Winter…"

" _I wish I could honestly see us living like this one day,"_ Morven thought watching her from behind his aviators, Winter's grace and beauty once again took his breath away, causing him stop to and stare after her.

It had only been seven years since the two of them had first been placed together at the academy. But it was even before then, back when they were children is when Morven noticed it. The strength and loveliness emanating from her at such a young age created a desire to be with her, but it was something he feared could never be. He was a specialist of the highest caliber, and his duty was to the people, not to find his own happiness.

Hearing him pause Winter stopped and turned around to face him, a slight blush appearing on her face as she realized he was once again staring at her, something that she would catch him doing every now and then since they had became partners, no since before then, when they were much younger and had already spent so much time together.

" _Why does he always stare at me during the strangest times,"_ Winter thought averting her eyes from his. _"I know he's so calculating at times, and I guess it's better than how most other men look at me, but still... I just wish I knew what is going through his mind when he looks at me."_ Clearing her throat Winter pointed to the house, getting her partner's attention again.

"Oh look we're here already. Come along Winter Mr. Xiao-Long is probably wondering where we are right now, and it would be rude for us to keep him waiting," Morven said switching his focus back to the mission at hand.

" _Hmph! Classic Morven, not even bothering to tell me what that was about."_ Winter thought to herself, smiling inwardly and giving him a nod as the two approached the door. They were getting ready to knock when the door opened suddenly.

Standing in the doorway was a young blonde haired girl of at least seventeen or eighteen years. She wore a gray jacket over an orange tank top that exposed her midriff, complete with gray cargo pants that had a burning heart emblem on the left leg and white sneakers.

She stared at them, with a look of surprise across her face at the sight of the duo at her front door. Her lilac eyes shifted from the man she had never met before to the woman who she identified as Weiss's older sister. Looking over her shoulder, she shouted, "Hey dad! Those Atlas Huntsman are here!" "Alright! Be right there Yang!"came a cheerful voice calling from the back as footsteps sounded..

Moving beside his daughter, Taiyang was a tall sunshine-blonde man with a cheerful demeanor about him. Casually dressed in matching khaki pants and button up shirt with a dark vest, he seemed to look just as one would picture an ordinary father.

Yet glancing over the hunter, Morven could clearly see the strength in the man. He knew that this was one of Vale's most experienced hunters. If they were lucky, he hoped to convince him or at least his daughter to join them.

"So you two are the ones Ironwood sent for this delivery? It seems kinda like a waste of resources sending the two of you," Tai said with a questioning undertone.

"Actually, the General was planning on just sending a regular courier, but Morven here volunteered…"

"Well since we were heading to Vale anyway on orders to investigate a report of white fang activity, and this was kind of on the way," Morven interrupted, gesturing behind him. "My ulterior motive I guess you could say, is I wanted to see if I could convince you to help us Mr. Xiao Long."

Taiyang cocked his head to the side and looked over the man before him again, this time observing the somewhat large sword strapped to his hip, partially hidden by what he could only assume was the standard issue trench coat that Specialists seemed to wear, and the incredibly calculating gaze he could feel coming from behind his shades. _"Hmm I see what your doing now, very clever,"_ he thought letting a smile play his lips as he shrugged nonchalantly, "sorry guys, but I'm retired plus an older injury keeps me from fighting as well as I used to."

Taiyang rubbed his right shoulder absentmindedly before looking from the Specialists then back to daughter, nodding to himself almost. _"Plus I have to be here for Yang incase she has another meltdown like in the kitchen earlier,"_ the memory of seeing his daughter panic just from the breaking glass, sending her into a cold sweat still fresh in his mind.

"Ahh I see," Morven nodded understandingly realizing his mistake and changing the subject. "Well anyway here is the arm that the General instructed be brought to you, its state of the art and should fit like a dream." With a flourish he pulled a box out from under his trench coat and presented it to Yang on one knee, "for you my fair lady," he said with a smile waiting for Yang to the take box.

"Who me?" Yang stammered blushing in surprise at his sudden actions.

"Yes, you see General Ironwood watched your fight during the tournament with great interest, and was impressed with your strength and skill," Winter explained, a touch of annoyance in her voice at her partner's choice of words. "Upon hearing the tragedy that happened during the battle of Beacon he had science division start crafting this right away for you."

Taking the box from Morven Yang opened it and found within a sleek metal prosthetic, complete with a smooth socket she knew just by looking it would fit her perfectly.

"We can't afford skilled huntresses like yourself to be taken out of the fight -Long, so I'd like to extend the invitation I just gave your father to you," Morven said, his brown and gold flecked eyes locking onto her lilac ones.

"Actually it's just Yang," Yang said absentmindedly looking from the still kneeling specialist back to her father, clearing her throat before turning to Winter, the most familiar out of the two before she replied, "look I really appreciate the two of you coming out here to bring me this, but I just need a little more time to decide is that alright?" She asked directing the question to Morven.

Getting back to his feet Morven looked down at Yang and gave her a understanding nod. "That's fine Ms. Xiao-Long I completely understand your hesitation, we plan to return to Atlas in three days time so if you do decide to come along just find us, we will be located in the town of Mirfield a couple hours ride inland from the coast, Winter's ship is massive so you won't miss it if you arrive in town."

Keeping his eyes locked on her, Morven took a step closer and added in a low voice, "keep this in mind though Ms. Xiao-Long, if you do come with us there will possibly be a great deal of danger, but I am confident your skills will be a great asset to us all."

Stepping back Morven gave Taiyang a respectful nod before bidding their goodbyes and returning to the road again with Winter.

Standing in front of their home Yang and her father watched as the two Specialists left in silence till they were out of sight before going back inside, their guest still sitting in the kitchen waiting patiently for their return with puzzled looks on their faces.

"Sorry for the interruption gentlemen, I was actually expecting them to take a little longer to get here." Taiyang apologized walking back into the kitchen with Yang, still holding the box she had received, a pondering expression on her face as she absentmindedly followed her father.

"Ahh so I see it finally arrived," Professor Port said noticing the box in Yang's arms. "Well c'mon we are all waiting to see you try it on."

"Yes yes," chipped in Professor Oobleck excitedly putting down his thermos. "This is a most awaited moment, Ms. Xiao-Long please, put it on."

The room fell silent as everyone gathered looked expectantly at Yang waiting.

Shifting nervously from foot to foot Yang met her father's eyes and pleaded silently for help which he quickly realized.

"Hey why don't we give Yang a bit to process all of this, after all she has a lot to consider after all." Tai said giving his daughter a reassuring smile and nodded her in the direction of the stairs.

"Very well very well, I do hope you do decide to put that gift to good use though Ms. Xiao-Long. After all there are people who are counting on you to come back to the fight."

Giving her two teachers a grateful smile and a nod to her dad Yang turned and walked up the stairs and realizing that her legs were just barely shaking took off the rest of the way to her room.

Watching his daughter leave Taiyang sighed and sat back at the table with his two guest and sighed deeply reaching for his own cup of coffee he felt a gentle hand rest on his shoulder.

"She'll be ok Tai, from what I saw while being in the field with her she is a very capable young women," Oobleck reassured patting Tai on the back.

"Thanks Oobleck, I just hope your right and she makes the right decision." Taiyang said quietly to himself looking up the stairs after her.

Up in her room Yang sat curled up in her bed looking at the arm the two Specialist brought and sighed rolling onto her side thinking to herself, _"now what am I going to do_?"

 **Meanwhile near the outskirts of Beacon**

Two wolf Faunus stood on the uppermost branch of a great oak, looking down upon their most recent quarry, one was an angry looking Faunus of around twenty-three with long spiky silver hair that reached down to his lower back with his bangs that framed both sides of his face partially covering the long healed x shaped scar across his right cheek. The other was an almost exact copy of his older brother, although only eighteen and lacking the scar natural hate in his red eyes that his brother had.

"Alright little brother, are you ready?" Caius asked in a almost hungry voice, eyeing the caravan below them.

"Yeah I guess," came the hesitant voice beside Caius Argyros as his younger brother surveyed the caravan, his long spiky flowed through the wind causing his hair to fall across with his red eyes.

Below was a small group of about five visible survivors walking with a cart through the forest, four of which armed with what appeared to be simple dust rifles and none of them had not the slightest idea was about to transpire.

"What's the matter having second thoughts Fenrir? I wasn't aware you had became so soft," Caius said with a hint of distaste in his voice, his hands resting on the hilt of his Odachi. "Adam personally tasked me for making sure the caravans of survivors did not escape and I chose you to assist me since you are my flesh and blood, so let me ask you again Fenrir are you ready?"

Taking a deep breath Fenrir stood up and bounced experimentally on the branch before nodding to his older brother, reaching up he donned his mask and grabbed one of his own katanas and awaited for his brother to give the signal.

There was a moment of silence as the brothers stood and stared down at their quarry, the thrill of the hunt building up in their veins before Caius gave the order.

"Now!"

From above the caravan there was a shout and two masked figures dropped from the trees, landing near the front and with blades drawn the two attackers immediately killed the two escorts near the front before turning around and facing the others.

"Dammit it's the White Fang," one of the escorts cried out spotting the emblem on Caius's coat shouting out into the forest, "Carter come back!" Another of the armed escorts fired a shot at the masked Faunus wielding the large Odachi in hopes of buying them time.

"There's no one to help you cowards," the masked killer growled ducking into a roll to dodge before slashing through the man's rifle and arm in a flash, his rifle cleanly bisected hitting the ground seconds before the arm.

Fenrir heard the defenders blood curdling scream behind him as the arm hit the ground, his own opponent still trying to line up the shot when he sidestepped and embedded his blade in the man chest with a lighting fast thrust, turning away quickly as he fell so to not see the fear in his eyes, moving on Fenrir's sharp ears picked up the sound of a child crying and following the sound he found it to be coming from within the cart.

Stepping over the bloody corpse of his foe he approached the cart when suddenly a sharp crack echoed through the air, the tree they were originally hiding in came crashing down behind them and a powerful aura was felt coming from it's base.

"You bastards!" a large huntsman cried leaping over the tree, the large broad axe he wielded glinted sharply in the moonlight as he charged at Fenrir roaring in rage.

" _Shit we didn't know there was going to be a huntsman's here,"_ Fenrir thought in a panic dodging the downward swing rolling and unsheathing his other blade, the impact from the axe hitting the ground sending him tumbling back man as the huntsman screamed for his fallen comrades continuing his attack.

Seeing the arrival of the huntsman Caius smiled evilly under his mask and grabbed the injured guard by the throat, lifting him up so they were face to face Caius shook him awake before laughing in his face maliciously. "Hey there buddy go ahead and cry for help again, I don't think your savior heard you," he laughed placing the tip of his sword against the man's stomach giving a twisted grin, before running him through drawing another scream of pain from him.

"Carter help me!"

Hearing his friends cry of pain the huntsman known as Carter turned and charged the Faunus holding his friend, in a blind rage extending the handle turning his weapon to form a greataxe he had completely forgot the other Faunus, and was now focused on the older of the two brothers.

"Fen take care of the rest of them leave no survivors, I'll take care of this one," Caius said with a murderous glint in his eyes, kicking the hunter's friend off his blade he moved assuming a battle stance facing the man waiting for an opening.

Breathing hard Fenrir nodded to his brother in thanks and went back to investigating the cart, slicing one of the runners across the chest as he tried to dash away, splattering the side of the cart with his blood before moving in and grabbing the door, taking a deep breath Fenrir wrenched the cart open and one of his gunblade at the ready to shoot when he froze.

Inside the cart was a woman easily nearing the end of her pregnancy with two other small boys both no older then four or five, all of them whimpering softly as they looked at him with fear in their eyes.

" _Dammit,"_ Fenrir thought eyes widening behind his mask, the sight of this mother with her two sons sending a shiver down his spine forcing him to check behind him on his brother, still locked in combat with the grief stricken hunter

"Please don't hurt the children," the mother pleaded pulling at his heart strings, tears streaming down her face as she held both of the boys close, "please just leave us alone haven't you monsters done enough."

Feeling his heart move up to his throat Fenrir nervously checked again around him before whispering, "if you want to get out of this alive then follow me," he said extending his hand to the mother, on the inside screaming against this foolishness.

Looking at him bleary eyed and in shock the mother froze, realizing he was serious she soothed her two sons before she giving him a nervous nod, in her eyes he could see the obvious mistrust but in the end she accepted his hand.

"Alright stay quiet and follow me," Fenrir muttered after helping the two boy out as well before moving off into the tree line, slow enough for them to keep up as he thought to himself, _"Dammit what am I doing."_ Scanning the trees for any other White Fang and seeing it was clear he signalled for them to come close, as he looked at the mother's tear covered face he felt his heart fill with shame, the sin of knowing what he had almost done weighing him down as she approached him.

"There is a town called Mirfield in that direction maybe an hour or two walk," Fenrir muttered pointing to the East unable to meet her eyes, "if you head there you should be able to find help, recently there's been a rumor going around that a couple of high ranking Atlas specialist are in the area so if you make it there, you should be fine."

The mother looked at him and for the first time he noticed that she had the brightest amber eyes he had ever seen, shining just like the gem on the necklaces her and the two boys wore, she looked at him with these eyes and asked, "why are you helping us since you're part of the Fang?"

Sighing deeply still unable to hold her gaze Fenrir snapped, "I don't know why so just go," swishing tail back and forth nervously as he continued scanning the area for pursuers growling, "If you get caught then we're all dead so get moving."

Watching them move off through the bush and then out of sight Fenrir gave a sigh of relief, turning back he ran to where they had found the cart, arriving only to find his brother sitting atop it with his mask off smirking.

"So you get the job done little brother," Caius asked wiping the gore from his blade with a scrape of the huntsman's jacket, the man's body Fen noticed was nowhere to be found, and other then the signs of a bloody struggle across the ground it was as if he never existed, even the man's massive axe was nowhere to be found.

"Yeah I eliminated the survivors," Fen finally replied looking back at his brother, trying to keep his voice even as he thought, _"I can't let him find out I let them go."_

"Good," Caius chirped leaping down to his brother getting face to face with his brother. "That means we can go ahead and start heading back to camp, after all toying with weakling still takes a lot out of you when you're having fun."

Remaining silent Fen moved beside his brother and began following him back to camp unaware that by making the decision to spare that woman and her sons, he had just set life on a course that he would have never foreseen even in his wildest dreams.

 **Four hours after leaving Patch**

"You feeling better now Morven," Winter asked lightly patting her partner on the back as he for the third time in a row, vomited over the side of the pier into the churning waters below.

Waiting several seconds till his nausea finally passed Morven stood up and gave Winter a appreciative nod, wiping his mouth before muttering quietly, "thanks Winter… I don't know what I'd do without you."

Blushing a bit Winter smiled and gave his back one last pat before turning and heading off the dock, waiting for Morven to pay the ferryman for their ride back from Patch she couldn't help but smile to herself.

"Alright that'll be thirty-six lien for you and your wife," The ferryman said typing in the total on his scroll and holding it for Morven to see. "Will you be paying with cash or card?"

Instantly stiffening up at the man's words, Morven gave his third most common phrase that he was known for saying, especially whenever Winter was out of earshot. "No we're not married, she's just my partner."

"Oh I'm sorry that was my mistake," the man said sheepishly accepting Morvens money, noticing the slightly bitter tone, "that's a shame though It's just that you two would make a perfect couple, you know that?"

"Hmm you don't say…" Morven muttered under his breath looking down the pier after her.

After several minutes of waiting Winter finally saw her partner returning from paying the ferryman, a slightly flustered look on his face as he walked back to her. Standing up she placed her hands on her hips and shook her head with a small grin on her face chuckling before she asked, "did that old guy give you a hard time about about getting sick?"

"Yeah... You could say something like that," Morven retorted evading any further questions and pushing on with Winter in tow,the two of them making their towards the road to Mirfield completely unaware of the events that would soon transpire.

 **Back at the White Fang encampment later that evening**

"What do you mean Adam left already?!" Caius snarled at Adam's second lieutenant, looking up at the massive masked man, "I refuse to report to anyone other than our leader himself so you better tell me where he is right now."

Fenrir leaning against a tree to the side shifted uncomfortably at his brothers tone, his brothers aggressiveness he noticed had been getting worse ever since their attack on Beacon.

"Well that's too bad because he left me here in charge while he went back with Cinder," the lieutenant said with a wicked grin towering over Caius, "you answer to me now."

"Like hell I do!" Caius shouted taking a step back, "I'll just wait until Adam gets back to report the mission success."

" _At least in your mind it a success,"_ Fenrir thought thinking back on the mother and her two sons he had helped escape, wondering again why he had done that thinking, _"I've killed innocent people before, so why did I hesitate this time? Was it the children, or was it something else..."_

A sudden commotion from the camp entrance suddenly caught his attention as another group of raiders entered the camp, heading straight for the command tent where his brother was arguing with the lieutenant still, as they passed him Fenrir couldn't help but feel something, like a dark sense of imminent danger that sent a chill through his blood coming from the group.

"Hey Boss we just learned something you're gonna want to hear about," the lead raider said holding out his hand, Fenrir's heart almost skipped a beat at the sight, dangling from his grip were three familiar identical amber necklaces each stained with blood.

"Why should I care about some useless piece of jewelry," the lieutenant growled barely even paying the raid leader any mind as he glared at Caius.

"You won't care about the jewelry, but what the survivors who were wearing them had to say might interest you," the leader said with a wicked grin twitching his fox ears in anticipation.

The tone of his voice must've intrigued the lieutenant, turning from Caius he surveyed the entire group from behind his mask, his eyes passing over all of them before crossing his arms nodding for the leader to continue.

"While making our pass by the town of Mirfield we came across some pregnant cow and her two brats," the raider said with a cackle, they were maybe twenty minutes away from making it when we grabbed one of the boys, the other one started bawling while his mother screamed begging us to release him."

A cold sweat began to bead on Fenrir as he listened to the raiders, a few of them he noticed gradually moved to cut off the easiest escape routes, each of them grinning behind their masks.

"When we grabbed the boys their mother began crying about how we made a mistake, she claimed that one of our own let her and the two brats go telling them to go to Mirfield and get help."

Fenrir's feeling of unease immediately turned to fear as the raider finished, the only thoughts going through his mind now were, _"I don't understand this how could this happen. I made sure we weren't followed so they should've made it to Mirfield?"_

"So what did you do to these humans then?" the lieutenant asked breaking Fens train of thought drawing his attention back to the raiders.

The leader of the raiders held up the bloody necklaces and gave them a little shake, emphasizing once again his men had killed them.

"That's what I wanted to hear, now the only other question I have, is before you killed them..." The lieutenant stepped forward till he was towering over the raider and looked down with murderous intent, "did you find out who the traitor was that let them go!"

Fenrir flinched at the shout and turned slightly away, his eyes darting for an escape route when he heard his brother almost whisper.

"Fen… I thought you said you killed them all…"

Looking up he met his brothers eyes and saw the disbelief in them, the disbelief that quickly changed to rage as Caius took a step closer raising his voice, "I thought you said you killed them. So you lied to me, all to save some worthless humans, you betray the only family we have left!."

All around the gathered group there was grumbling at what Caius had said, like the two brothers many of the current members had lost family to either the Grimm, or fighting the humans, so if one's loyalty was brought into question it became a very big deal to the group as a whole.

"I did what I thought was the right thing, regardless of the fact they were human or not," Fenrir burst out unable to control himself, glaring back at his older brother as his hand slowly edged towards one of his blades.

"If you draw your blade against us Fenrir you'll be branded a traitor," the lieutenant warned, a threatening with a undertone in his voice. "It would be better for you to just give up your life and die with at least some dignity, so you don't bring any more shame to your brother."

Turning to Caius Fenrir pleaded with his eyes one last time, begging for his older brother to help defend him in his time of need, but he only received a glare full of hate as his brother unsheathed his own blade taking a step forward.

" _Why Caius…"_

Quickly drawing his sword and focusing Fenrir summoned one of his aura construct wolves, channeling through the blade at the center of the gathered group he imbued it lighting dust from his weapon, resulting in the wolf giving off a massive electrical flash blinding the group, using this as a distraction he leapt up and over a raider blocking his path and began running towards the darkening forest.

"After that coward!," their stand in leader roared pointing his massive chain blade in the direction Fenrir had ran before turning to Caius, stopping him and growling, "you better finish him off if you want to redeem yourself."

Baring his teeth Caius took off after the others, an idea already forming in his mind of where his brother would be heading thinking to himself, _"oh little brother why must you do this to me, now I'll be forced to feed my wolves again."_

Closing his eyes several dark wolves broke away from him and start scattering through the foresting, hunting for their packmates and howling into the night letting them know that this time, they were the ones being hunted.

 **Some distance away**

Sitting around their campfire Morven and Winter were in the middle of preparing to get some sleep, when an ominous howl echoed through the night air, pausing in laying out his mat to sleep Moven asked, "Winter did you hear that?"

"What, you mean the wolves," Winter asked also shooting a look towards the darkening forest, "I heard from one of the locals that this forest was home to several different packs at one point, so I'm not surprised we are hearing them now."

Nodding but not convinced he surveyed the area again before tossing his mat down, watching him stand up Winter could easily tell he was on edge and something within the dark had agitated him.

"Hey calm down Kay, it sounded like just regular wolves, not Beowolves so we'll be fine." Winter tried to reassure him, the very fact he was on edge made her nervous.

Off in the distance there was another howl followed by a sound like a crack of lightning making Morven freeze, looking into the dark for the source of the commotion.

"Winter..."

"I know let's go," Winter sighed grabbing her sword and giving Morven a nod, the two then took off running through the forest at breakneck speed in the direction of the howl, not knowing what to expect but nonetheless prepared for a fight.

 **Meanwhile nearby**

Caius slashed his blade and the last of Fenrir's wolves dissipated into nothing, as he stalked closer the rage and hatred coming off him made the young Faunus cringe in fear, his brothers attempt on his life still shocking him as he collapsed onto the ground from his injury.

" _Dammit I should've know Caius would find me,"_ Fenrir thought biting his tongue to keep from crying out, the deep cut across his back that his brother gave him causing tears to well up as he looked at his brother, pleading again, "please Caius don't do this, we're brothers."

Caius stopped at this and cocked his head, giving his little brother a sideways look he bared his teeth in anger, several more dark wolves appearing in response to his anger and began pacing around them, padding their way to their bleeding quarry as he muttered remorselessly, "my brother died when he betrayed me and our family the fang."

Time seemed to slow down as the lead wolf gave a growl and the charged Fenrir, closing his eyes and waiting for the attack his eyes shot open at an unexpected sound, the wolf yipping of pain and suddenly disappearing.

"What the hell?!" Caius took a step back in surprise staring at the simple medium sized throwing knife embedded in the ground before him, landing where his wolf had been a man stood between him and his injured brother.

"Caius Argyros, wanted on multiple counts of manslaughter, conspiracy against the well being and peace of Remnant, and association with the criminal terrorist organization known as the white fang I'm here to place you under arrest," the man said in an even voice staring at Fenrir's attacker, his hand calmly resting on the large sword sheathed at his hip as Caius recoiled at his words.

"You… I've heard of you, you Atlas dog," Caius snarled recognizing the man from the White Fang kill list, taking another step back his wolves began growling and circling the intruder as he pointed his sword at the Specialist, "you're the one they call the storm commander, Morven Kenrich of Atlas."

Barely hanging onto consciousness Fenrir looked up at the man known as Morven, despite his blurry vision he could see that Morven was a tall man with dark brown hair that contrasted sharply with the pale of his skin, his white and grey trimmed trench coat seemed faded and worn, but in good condition bearing the crest of the Atlas military on one shoulder, and a simple sword and shield emblem decorating the other.

"If you've heard of me then you no doubt know my partner too," Morven said lightly as Winter stepped out from the tree line, a glyph at her feet ready to activate at a moment's notice.

"Yeah all of the fang knows that Schnee bitc… Arrgh!" Caius cried out in pain mid sentence as another throwing knife was thrown, this time embedded in his thigh as Morven narrowed his eyes irritably at him brandishing another knife.

"Watch yourself," he said with a dangerous edge in his voice eyeballing one of Caius's wolves, with a flick of his wrist he sent another knife flying through it's skull causing it to vanish just like the first.

Glaring at both specialists Caius then shifted his gaze to his injured brother still laying on the ground, the hate in his eyes sending a shiver through him as he fought to stay conscious hearing his brother say, "you're dead to us Fenrir, know that if you they allow you to live, we won't."

With that Caius gave one last glare to everyone before taking off with his wolves leaving the two specialists standing over his injured brother.

"What are we going to do about this one?" Fenrir heard Winter ask, her voice sounding muffled as he just barely clung to consciousness, the man's expression on his face though was the last thing he saw, not one of judgment or hate, but one of idle curiosity like he was something truly surprising.

"Winter, I'd like you to use a stasis glyph to slow his bleeding for now, we'll take him back to our campsite and I'll give him some first aid there," Morven finally said after staring at the barely conscious young Faunus for a minute. "We should probably hurry though, that cut looks rather nasty and if he dies on us we could lose the intel he has."

Fenrir couldn't help but notice that rather than having a menacing tone when he said this, Morven just had more of a business like way of talking, still though he was unable to decide whether it was better for him to die at his brother's hand or be captured by those he called his enemy for the longest time.

"Are you sure this is a good idea though Kay," Winter said disdainfully looking down at the wolf faunus, "this one is white fang too so it might be in our best interest to finish him now."

"I'd say this makes our current mission no longer necessary Winter," Morven reasoned picking up his knives from the ground, "we can take him back to Atlas with us and they can decide what to do with him there, for all we know he might cooperate with us and tell us all he knows."

Sighing deeply Winter gave in and cast her stasis glyph slowing Fen's blood loss while Morven threw him over his shoulder with a grunt, giving the area one last glance Morven nodded to Winter, "alright let's go back."

With that the two Specialists and their new acquaintance began trekking back to their camp site, completely unaware of the red eyed crow watching them from the treetop with much more curiosity than your average bird.

 **The Next Morning back on Patch**

"Yang are you sure about this, I mean that Specialist made it seem like the journey is going to be incredibly dangerous," Taiyang said to his daughter in a worried tone already knowing she had made her decision.

Turning around from loading up bumblebee; her personal motorcycle, Yang looked at her father and gave him a sad smile, her mind already made up on the choice to leave, and she knew it would do her no good being on the sidelines, not while her little sister and team were out there fighting.

"I appreciate the concern dad, I really do but I can't just sit here while Ruby and the others are out there, if there is anyway for me to help them I'm going to take it even, if it is dangerous."

Giving his daughter a smile, Taiyang's eyes then drifted down to her arm before asking, "so how are you feeling about the arm then? Did you have any trouble with it getting it on?"

Yang gently rubbed the cold steel of the arm before shrugging and smiling back at her father, "it feels a little strange but they weren't lying when they said it would fit me perfectly, who knows maybe when I go to Atlas with them I can get some sweet upgrades on it."

Gently grabbing his daughter's arm Tai pulled her in for one last hug and whispered, "I'm so proud of you Yang. Please, just promise me that you'll be safe and listen to those Specialists alright, I don't want to lose you too."

Breaking away she gave her father one last determined look before slipping on her helmet and mounting her bike, with a wave she peeled off racing down the forest road to the Patch docks, a multitude of questions going through her mind as she left her childhood home with the quick twist of the throttle and the roar of her engine.

" _Well Atlas, ready or not here I come."_

 **Back on Vale mainland near Mirfield**

"Alright rise and shine Faunus we have a bit of a walk to make before we reach Mirfield," a Fenrir woke to find himself resting on a simple camping mat shirtless and bound at the wrist, rolling in shock to get a look at his surroundings he stopped feeling a slight numbing pain in his back, waiting till it dulled down to a throb Fenrir realized that beside that he was perfectly fine, even with the stitches in his back he could tell he was perfectly fine.

"Alright, I'm going to untie you so you can get your shirt and coat back on," The man he heard called Morven last night said coming into view looking down at him. "Don't get any ideas about running, I hate to have to treat you roughly considering I patched you up last night."

Getting to his knees Fenrir could see that the man had both of his swords wrapped in a bundle and slung on his back and was holding out his white shirt and black trench coat, his face was expressionless but his eyes narrowed slightly when he caught Fenrir looking towards his weapons shaking his head as if to say, "don't even try."

Setting the clothes down he pulled one of his throwing knives out from his coat and cut the rope around Fenrir's hands making the young Faunus eyes widen slightly in surprise before quickly regaining his composure, looking at the Specialist with a cautious gaze he growled. "You're either bold or just stupid, normally when a human captures a member of the white fang they would torture them to death or kill them on sight…"

"You should really get your facts straight," Morven said interrupting the Faunus. "You may call us killers but we are not the ones killing pregnant mothers and their children."

Hearing that Fenrir immediately shut up and continued getting dressed, moving slowly as to not to reopen his wound, pausing to look over his shoulder at the Specialist he could tell just from the way Morven acted that he was strong, giving off sinking feeling that any attempt to escape could mean certain death.

Morven looked calmly at the wolf faunus ignoring how he was being sized up and pulled out a pair of handcuffs, "Fenrir Argyros by lawful order, for multiple acts of manslaughter, conspiracy and threatening the peace within the four kingdoms, you are to be brought back to Atlas for interrogation and judgement for your crimes."

Slapping the cuffs on him he lifted Fenrir up to his feet and gave him stern look before turning to Winter nodding, "Alright let's pack up so we can get moving now, I want to enjoy some time off before Yang meets us at the ship."

"What makes you think she'll decide to come with us," Winter asked moving beside him as they walked, staying only a few feet behind Fenrir as they walked down the forest path, her gaze kept darting between him and her partner as they slowly got closer to the town of Mirfield.

"Call it a hunch, but I have the feeling that Ms. Xiao-Long will make the decision to join us, based on the fact it must be killing her on the inside, her little sister ran off with a group of other students to avenge their friend right, if you were in that boat you'd want to help Weiss right Winter."

Noticing that Fenrir was slowing down and seemingly listening in Winter glared over at him and spat venomously, "mind your own business dog and keep walking, the sooner we turn you in the better."

Narrowing his red eyes Fenrir stopped and turned to face Winter, a growl rumbling in his throat as he shot back, "yeah you would be talking tough while I'm unable to fight," he taunted trying to provoke her. "C'mon, If you untie me here we can duke it out and you can put that little can opener of yours to use, that is if you've got what it takes to go toe to toe with the White Beast."

Winter's eyes flashed at his comment and her hand immediately went to her sword drawing it to his throat in the blink of an eye.

"Winter enough." Morven met Fenrir's eyes with a cold calculating stare and shook his head, "you should turn around and keep moving Mr. Argyros, otherwise I'll be forced to muzzle you so that you do not upset my partner."

Holding the man's gaze, Fenrir smirked and turned so that he was facing Morven before spitting, "and you! You probably look down on us Faunus just like the Schnee's, so I don't want to hear you acting all high and mighty, you know what I'll take you down as well so take your filthy human hands off Hati & Sköl and give them back."

There was a moment of silence in the group as everyone stood looking at each other, expressions varying from hatred to annoyance as they waited for someone else to speak.

"Oh so that's what their called," Morven said finally breaking the silence looking at the two blades with idle curiosity. "Interesting… Is that their true name or did you name them that," he asked looking back at Fenrir who seemed to be struggling to resist charging him.

"I'm betting he just gave them those names after he stole them," Winter spat glaring at Fenrir her hand still resting on her blade. "Filthy dog, this is why I don't normally trust the Faunus and sure as hell don't trust this dog of the White Fang, I say we just deal with him now and be done with it."

"Winter please that's enough…" Morven pleaded in an exasperated tone before turning to Fenrir, the intensity in his gaze making the Faunus freeze up as he surveyed him with those strange brown eyes.

"This is your last warning Mr. Argyros, refrain from antagonizing Winter or I'll be forced to take steps you won't like," his voice changing to a much more dangerous tone. "If you refuse I'll be forced to use drastic measures to ensure that you behave…"

Glaring one last time at him, Fenrir slumped slightly and turned back around continuing forward in silence, the two Specialists following closely behind him.

An hour of silence passed without incident and the town of Mirfield became visible, leaving the forest path and moving onto the main dirt road the trio could see to their far left Winters large airship, with all it's streamers and it being landed on the far end of town it was easily the most noticeable thing about the area. Even from that far they could see the maintenance crew gathered around one of the engine ports, all the workers seemingly busy unaware of the specialists return.

"Hello gentlemen," Morven called out waving to get their attention as they strode up, still watching Fenrir out of the corner of his eye as he sat down against the hull sulking.

"Ah Specialist Schnee, Specialists Kenrich your back," the head worker said climbing down the side meeting them on the ground. "I see your mission was successful," he said warily looking at the handcuffed wolf Faunus before turning to Winter, "Ma'am don't worry we managed to repair that faulty engine line and are just doing the last minute diagnostic check, we should be able to leave in a few hours if you wish."

"Thank you for your hard work but you don't have to worry," Winter said smiling before giving Morven an annoyed look, "we'll actually be staying one more day waiting for another passenger who may show up tomorrow."

"Trust me Winter, she'll show up."

"If you insist Kay, but what are we going to do with him," Winter asked pointing at Fenrir her eyes narrowing again as their gazes met.

"I would normally say we lock him up in the ship's cells but…"

Fenrir looked up and met Morvens eyes, and was surprised to find him with a more understanding expression this time.

"He's a crafty one so I'd prefer to have him around, that way I can personally keep an eye on him. If that is ok with you Winter," Morven asked turning to his partner.

" _Dammit can't you just pick up a hint,"_ Winter thought silently nodding in agreement with him, _"I was hoping we could spend some quality time together, but now that that dog is going to be around, I don't think this could get any worse."_

"Alright then it's settled," Morven said bringing his hands together turning back to the maintenance team, "after you guys are done with the repairs I don't see a problem with you guys going out, enjoy a night on the town I know it's small but they have a nice couple of restaurants and bars, so you guys should take a night to relax. Just make sure you are all are back on ship by noon tomorrow, is that understood?"

"No problem," the man said giving a thumbs up to Morven before turning back to his work.

"So what are you doing with me," Fenrir asked getting back to his feet watching Morven again, his curiosity about the specialist piqued by the declaration to keep an eye on him.

"You're just going to stick with me Mr. Argyros…"

"It's Fenrir!," Fenrir snapped irritably staring at the specialist.

Raising his eyebrows Morven continued as if he wasn't interrupted, "you're going to stick with me and come tomorrow we'll begin our flight back to Atlas, where you're to be questioned and then sentenced by the council."

At this Fenrir's face paled at the mention of flight, he had battled Huntsman and Grimm, but if there was one thing that he hated more than anything, it was flying. Looked at the Specialist with a indifferent look on his face Fenrir thought to himself, _"is there any other way we can get to Atlas other than flying, I mean surely there's a non-flying ship we can take right instead?"_

"What do you want to do then for tonight," Winter asked still internally pouting about not being alone with Morven. "Are we going to stay in the ship tonight or do you have other plans since your dog sitting?"

Sighing deeply Morven gave Winter a tired smiled and pointed to the town center, "even though we have Mr. Argyros with us I'd still like to look around a little bit before finding a little motel for the evening, it'll be a nice change of pace for us."

At the mention of a motel Morven could've sworn that for a split second Winter had looked elated, but then it dawned on her that Fenrir would also be staying and her elation went out the window as she asked, "so with the motel what would the sleeping arrangements be?"

"What's wrong Schnee afraid I'll bite," Fenrir teased baring his teeth at her.

Glaring at him again Winter huffed and turned away, muttering something about fleas and him being a disgusting animal before stalking off towards the center of town, leaving Morven with a stressed look on his face.

"Great now you've done it Morven," He said to himself sadly watching Winter walk away, taking a deep breath Morven turned to Fenrir and nodded his head indicating he wanted to head into town and began walking away, not bothering to see if the Faunus was following him.

Shaking his head in disbelief Fenrir considered making a break for it again when he realized something, Morven had walked into town with Hati & Sköl still slung over his shoulder. _"Dammit what's his game, first he saves me and now he wants to take me back to Atlas,"_ he thought swishing his tail angrily following Morven, his mind reeling as he continued trying to figure him out as they moved to catch up to Winter.

 **Meanwhile back on Patch**

Yang Xiao-Long was known for a lot of things, however being patient was not one of her greatest traits as she yelled, "what do you mean the ferry is done for the night!" stomping her foot irritably as the old operator yawned giving her a tired look.

"I'm awfully sorry miss but it's awfully late for me, and since I've made quite a few trips between Patch and the mainland just today I'd like to get some rest, although that couple today that I took back was very polite." The old man mused smiling to himself at the thought of the man who had gotten seasick earlier that afternoon, his lovely wife tenderly consoling him as they crossed the barely rocky waters.

"Look this is really urgent alright, if you could just make an exception I'd be willing to pay double for the ride across, I'm really in a hurry and I need to get to the town of Mirfield by tomorrow," Yang urged the old man trying her best not get upset knowing she couldn't really blame the old man, with the number of people going from Patch to mainland it was only natural that there would be only one ferry.

Shaking his head one last time the ferry operator sighed and said, "well listen here miss. It's been a long day for me so I'm going to call it a night, but I have to pick up some supplies for Patch back on the mainland early in the morning, so if you are here you can catch a ride then. I'll be leaving at six o'clock sharp so make sure you are here and ready to go by then," with that the old man hobbled off to his truck driving off without so much as a look back leaving Yang alone at the dock.

"Dammit!," Yang cursed looking around the beach area before deciding just to camp out, moving bumblebee over to the edge of the forest Yang sat down and began pulling out her sleeping bag preparing for the night thinking to herself, _"I hope I don't end up being too late tomorrow. This is my big chance to get back into the fight and help everyone."_

Finishing checking the area one last time to make sure no grimm or bandits were in the area, Yang laid down under the base of the tree and stared out into the night, clenching her right arm she turned her lilac eyes to the cold steel that was now her hand and sighed deeply thinking to herself, _"this arm… It's now a part of me this piece of cold steel, does this make me a monster? Or just a freak?"_ Still pondering this Yang closed her eye's and began dozing off, the slight nervousness she felt for meeting up with the two specialists going away as she finally came to terms with her decision, drifting off to sleep beneath the shattered moon of Remnant.

 **Mirfield that same night**

"I'll see you in the morning Winter so don't worry about me, just make sure to get some sleep for tomorrow alright," Morven said quietly setting his tea down, "I don't know why but I have a feeling that it's going to be a fairly eventful day tomorrow."

"Please rethink letting him stay in there with you Kay," Winter pleaded sitting on the edge of her bed staring at Morven strangely, her simple nightgown riding up slightly around her thighs as she rocked slightly on her bed.

Morven gulped and turning towards the door he could feel Winter get up and move behind him, her hand going to his shoulder stopping him, "at least keep him tied up and secure, I know he was behaving at the restaurant but alone I know he would try to slit your throat the moment he got the chance."

Sighing Morven turned around placing his hands on Winter's shoulders and looked into her ice blue eyes, his own face heating up a little at their closeness.

"Winter, I can't explain why but there's something about this kid that makes me know he won't, but don't worry I have a plan if he does try something," bringing his hand up Morven stroked Winter's cheek. "When was the last time I made a bad judgment call," he reassured Winter before leaving her room.

" _You're an idiot Morven,"_ Winter thought sadly watching the door close behind him, throwing herself onto her bed with a deep sigh she rolled onto her side and hugged her pillow, still wondering if Morven once again would come see her in the middle of the night.

Back in Morven's room Fenrir was handcuffed to the bed with a bored look on his face, the sound of the door opening immediately making him look and find Morven entering the room with a curious expression on his face, giving the specialist a scowl before sitting up on in the bed Fenrir muttered, "you know I'm kinda hungry here, so the least you can do is untie me and give me something to eat, I haven't anything to eat since you and your girlfriend captured me."

"She's not my girlfriend," Morven said on instinct grabbing the fast food bag off the table and tossing it Fenrir, his talk with Winter still fresh in his mind as he removed his and Fenrir's weapons propping them beside his bed.

The wolf Faunus mid bite into his burger looked at where the Specialist had placed his swords and swallowed, a mixture of emotions appearing on his face for a brief second before quickly regaining his composure, looking back at Morven he saw the Specialist just nod in response.

"Those are some nice blades you got there, don't worry I'm not going to disrespect them or anything," Morven reassured catching Fenrir's quick flash of emotion at the sight of his swords. "I am curious though as to where you got them if you didn't steal them though."

Fenrir looked at the specialist with a frown before answering, "they were a gift and now my only partners that I can rely on," using his free hand to grip the white scarf around his neck tightly, remembering a painful memory which did not go unnoticed by Morven.

"I take it a family member left them to you?"

"My mother," Fenrir whispered remembering her smiling face, "her and my father left their weapons behind for me and my brother, a memento if you will of their own struggle."

"Your brother Caius inherited your father's weapon I take it, that massive Odachi."

"Yeah Seethe," Fenrir muttered grinding his teeth as the scar from his brothers attack pulsed beneath his skin, "also know as the rabid blade that sword bears a curse when cutting those who are not faunus."

"Hmmm I see…" Morven reached over to where he laid down his own weapon and drew it from the sheath allowing Fenrir to get a good look at the blade. From the size he could see that it was a bastard sword on the smaller side of the spectrum, the blade itself though was surprising wide with a dark black core to the blade. Looking closer he could see a faint glimmer of gold coming from within the black, that contrasted sharply with the silver edges, this was indeed a weapon meant for a Huntsman of high caliber.

"This is Storm Razor my own weapon," Morven said in a clear tone noticing Fenrir's awe, "I built her myself during my time at the academy so she's one of a kind."

Fenrir looked at the sword in awe, he had seen many different weapons during his time in the White Fang, but never has he seen one with such beauty and grace, looking carefully along the weapon he noticed part of the grip seemed different, and that the edge of the blade seemed to have seams in small intervals, noticing this he asked, "that's a very good looking sword, kind of weapon is she"?

Shaking his head and sheathing his blade Morven chuckled lightly, "now now let's not get too friendly here, after all you wouldn't want to give away all your weapons secrets now would you? Because that would put you at quite the disadvantage, if you tried to escape."

Fenrir chuckled, " you know you're different from other humans I've met, the ones that always treated me like shit, so I hope that you'll forgive my outbursts from earlier." Fenrir continued to stare at the specialist, trying to understand him, in all his experience with humans none ever asked him about his weapons or his past. For him it was a real shocker.

"I'll go ahead and take that as a good thing me being different," Morven said with a understanding smile, "I too would like to apologize for the way my partner acted, granted you can't really blame her considering what has been going on for the last couple of years regarding the white fang and the Schnee dust company. Although I will have you know that your comments were not helping the situation."

Morven the yawned and removed his trench coat throwing it over his chair, the flash of the inner lining revealing to Fenrir a multitude of throwing knives along the inside, reminding him of the pin point accuracy which he used them against his brother.

"Yeah sorry about that, guess I've been under a lot of stress lately with my own brother trying kill me and with the chaos in the kingdoms, I don't blame your girlfriend but if it's any consolation I've never killed any of her family."

"She's not my girlfriend…"

Fenrir looked out the window of the hotel room noticing that the villagers were having some sort of festival, memories of his time back in his village where there would always festivals at night and his family would come together.

"I know it's probably not going to make you feel better but when we get to Atlas if you cooperate things will go a lot easier for you," Morven said slipping off his combat boots and socks before plopping on his back.

Narrowing his eyes again at the mention of Atlas Fenrir scoffed and went back to silently eating, his gaze shifting over to the specialist every now and then as the man seemed to instantly fall asleep.

" _What a strange man,"_ Fenrir thought digging into the fries he had left before crushing the bag and throwing it the trash, looking over one last time at Morven Fenrir laid down himself and closed his eyes, figuring that whatever happened tomorrow he'd just deal with it.

Right outside the room moving away from the door, Winter tiptoed back to her room, her heart slightly relieved that Morven had everything under control, but at the same time sad that with him keeping an eye on their prisoner her plan to visit him in the night was once again postponed.

" _Why must the world always get between us Morven,"_ Winter pondered sulking on her bed again, over in her bag on the floor the lingerie she bought was angrily stuffed back inside it. _"I'll get my chance,"_ she thought grabbing her pillow and hugging it angrily, _"I'm not going to stop till I get what I want, I've waited long enough."_

 **The Next Morning on Patch**

Just like the old man had said at 6 o'clock the ferry disembarked with it's only passenger and began making it's way to the mainland, while traveling across the water Yang passed the time talking with the old man about his travels and those who would go between Patch and the mainland, laughing when he mentioned a recent passenger that had the worst case of sea sickness he had seen in almost thirty years.

Yang laughed at this and thought of her flight to Beacon, how long ago it seemed since her and her sister had started this crazy chapter in their life, musing to herself Yang spaced out deep in thought till the pier came into view when she finally spoke again.

"Screw it," Yang muttered out loud earning a surprised look from the operator. "I'll do my part to save Remnant no matter where it takes me."

After coming ashore and paying the man, Yang waved goodbye before gunning bumblebee and shooting down the road to Mirfield, her heart rising in her throat as she steeled herself for whatever lay before her in the coming days.

 **Meanwhile in Mirfield**

Fenrir couldn't help but shudder when he entered the airship knowing that within a few hours they would be flying, it wasn't even the destination he was worried about at this point but rather how they were traveling.

"Something the matter Mr. Argyros," Morven asked noticing the nervousness in Fenrir's body language as they marched onto the airship, the way his eyes darted around making it seem like he wasn't a fan of flying.

"Are you sure we can't get to Atlas another way any at all?" Fenrir asked trying his best to keep his tough guy act but failing miserably at hiding it.

Shaking his head and giving Fenrir the most sympathetic look he could he replied, "I'm sorry Mr. Argyros but this is the only way we can get to Atlas in a reasonable time, but knowing how painful it can be to suffer a form of motion sickness, I would be more then willing to see if Winter could place you in stasis again, I have a feeling that would help reduce the affects of your condition."

Fenrir looked at him confused before asking, "wait you mean you can use your semblance to put me to sleep, I mean I've seen a lot of different semblance during my time in the White Fang but I've never heard of a stasis semblance before.

"Not me, I meant my partner Winter," Morven said gesturing behind him to the disgruntled Schnee following behind them, "she has a vast variety of things she can do with her semblance and stasis just happens to be a useful one for this scenario."

Fenrir looked at Winter with a shocked expression on his face, he knew that someone saved him after his brother slashed him but had no idea the Schnee had helped.

"Well you both saved me from going six feet under so thanks I owe you both big time," Fenrir said showing a genuine smile which was rare to see.

"I wouldn't thank us just yet," Winter snapped glaring at Fenrir, still upset about her plans last night being ruined. "You do know that we are taking you to Atlas to face criminal charges and an interrogation, so thanking us should be the last thing you want to do."

Moving past Morven, Winter strode up to Fenrir and looked him in the eye with a cold smile, "you know the sentence for acts of terrorism in the kingdoms right, let alone how you animals killed civilians in cold blood, I wouldn't be surprised if they didn't waste their time with a trial and just chose to put you down on the spot."

"Well I'll be honest with you Schnee," Fenrir growled not backing down, "I joined the White Fang for a different reason, while some joined to kill humans and others for equality for Faunus kind."

Nudging Winter Morven shook his head and gestured for her to stand down before turning back to Fenrir, "well whatever your reasons you had, they won't matter compared to the crimes you have committed, so keep that in mind when we get to Atlas and you stand before the council."

With that Morven nodded to Winter and turned away as one of her glyphs appeared beneath their prisoner, numbing his whole body Fenrir collapsed to his knees unable to move and could only look from the ground up at the two Specialists.

"Take him and secure him in the passenger area with an armed guard," Winter shouted to the inside of the ship causing two low ranking soldiers to come running out.

"Right away ma'am," they said in unison going to either side of Fenrir dragging him up into the ship.

"Make sure he is treated with respect and dignity," Morven warned the two as they dragged him away, getting ready to turn back to Winter Morven paused noticing something on the ground, reaching down Morven picked up what turned out to be an old photograph of a much younger and considerably happier looking Fenrir, gathered around him he could only assume was his family, all of whom seemed to quite content with their life.

" _What could have turned such a innocent looking young man into the killer that they all see him as now?"_ Morven pondered to himself walking to Winter's side, pocketing the picture, _"I'll have to remember to return this to him later."_

Off in the distance the loud revving of an engine cut through the crisp morning air causing Morven to look out towards the entrance of town, a sort of knowing smile appearing on his face as he chuckled, "and right on the money," watching a bright yellow motorcycle come speeding through the main gate heading right for the airship, the long golden hair of the rider catching the late morning sun.

"Is that who I think it is," Winter asked in disbelief watching as the cycle pulled up to their landing zone skidding to a stop, the driver hopping off and taking a couple steps forward looking up apprehensively at the large airship.

"It most certainly is Winter, so you can go ahead and tell the pilot to begin prepping for takeoff while I welcome our newest passenger," Morven said smiling, waiting till he felt Winter leave his side Morven walked down to the bottom of the ramp and watched as Yang took off her helmet, shaking her blonde hair out before locking her lilac eyes on his, a determined look on her face as she walked right up to him and taking his outstretched hand in her metal one.

"Alright you convinced me Specialist Morven, I'm in…"

 **AN:** **TheBoredBoot here with a last minute message as public relations for this joint venture. So a few things have changed with this but overall it is still a co-op work and will continue to be so unless certain things transpire, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of At the Edge of Darkness, Myself and my partner have spent quite a bit of time on this and are quite proud of it so please remember to leave a review and follow if you want to be notified the second the chapter comes out. Until then stay tuned for the next exciting chapter.**

Regards,

TheBoredBoot


	2. Chapter 2

At The Edge Of Darkness

Made possible by the joint efforts of Keeper Of The One Winged Angel

and TheBoredBoot

 **AN:** TheBoredBoot here, and holy crap sorry guys for the wait. I recently was relocating back stateside from Japan so you can imagine that the time that it takes to do all that cuts into me and partners writing time. For those of you who are just joining us, welcome. I hope you all stay and enjoy this adventure of intrigue and mystery. As always Rwby and the characters besides the OC's are owned by Rooster Teeth, this Fanfic is a joint work and without the help of our fellow writer and editor OS Worldmakers, it wouldn't be nearly as successful. Well without further adieu, here's the next chapter of At the Edge of Darkness...

Chapter 2

"I'm glad to see you made it, Ms. Xiao-Long," Morven said with a smile, extending his hand in greeting he chuckled, "I figured you'd make up your mind in the end and join us on this little venture, and I'm glad that once again I'm proven right on a judge of character."

"Well, I couldn't just stay at home while my friends risk their lives," Yang said as she shook his hand, noting he wasn't even shocked with the newly acquired arm she had on. "Besides, I have some personal things that I need to settle. Maybe by going with you I can come to terms with them."

"I'm sure after we deal with a certain problem we picked up recently, and depending on where your friend is, we might be able to help," Morven said, walking back with Yang to her cycle before asking, "who is your missing friend anyway? Was she a fellow student at Beacon Academy?"

A sad smile appeared on Yang's face as she mumbled quietly, "her name is Blake Belladonna. She's a faunus that used to be in the White Fang and... after the events that led to the Fall of Beacon, she ran away and has been out of contact ever since."

Morven raised his eyebrows at Yang and pondered for a moment digging through his memory before replying, "you mean the cat Faunus daughter of Ghira Belladonna? He was the old leader of the White Fang, well before he left and became the chieftain of the island of Menagerie, rumor has it because he stepped down that's why the White Fang became so much more aggressive over the last few years."

"Well I know she is a cat Faunus... but she never told us about her past or her family, so I don't know," Yang said as she shrugged her shoulders sighing, "I wish that I asked her more about her past, that way I could find her now."

"Well, conveniently enough we have someone who knows about recent changes in the Fang. He's a Faunus from the White Fang we have in custody right now, so when we get in the air I'll arrange a meeting so you can ask him a few questions, if you would like to speak with him that is."

"Who are you talking about?" Yang asked with a confused expression on her face.

"I'll fill you in after we load your motorcycle into the cargo bay, then you can ask all the questions you want, Ms. Xiao-Long," Morven said pushing her cycle towards the airship.

"Please just call me Yang," Yang groaned as they walked to her cycle into the airship closing the bay doors behind them.

Back in the ship Fenrir sat on the floor a nervous wreck. Being captured was one thing, but flying on in a ship was going too far he thought to himself, " _I can't believe this is happening, I've fought Grimm and killed Huntsmen... but when it comes to flying I act like a frightened pup, how could this get any worse…"_ As if answering his own question, the airship begin to power up, causing a certain Fenrir to pale. " _Calm down Fen, just clear your mind and everything'll be fine."_

Looking up when Morven returned Fenrir to his surprise found he wasn't alone, he was accompanied by a young and incredibly buxom blonde who gave the Faunus a curious look when she spotted him. Fenrir had to admit for a human she was quite the looker, her long golden hair was tied back in a simple ponytail and her lilac colored eyes looked as if they had seen true tragedy, but what really caught his eye was her sophisticated prosthetic that seemed to be out of place on this otherwise flawless young woman.

"Who's the dog?" Yang asked, seeming to take him completely by surprise with that comment as Morven held back a chuckle, "Actually Yang, Mr. Argyros is not a dog Faunus, he's a wolf that we picked up on our way to the village," as he looked Fenrir a out of place smile playing across his lips.

"Hey! I'll have you know that if I was a dog Faunus I would be more excited to see you people, and being locked in this goddamn cage is not what I'd call fun. But if you'd like to join me," Fenrir said in a haughty voice giving Yang a wink, "I wouldn't object…"

"Careful Mr. Argyros," Morven warned shaking his head, "unlike you, this young lady is coming with us of her own accord, so I would show her same respect that you show me, unless you really do want to sit here by yourself."

"Well even if he does, I'm going to stick around, after all you said he's with the Fang right?" Yang asked, turning to Morven and narrowing her eyes. "I want answers so I'm going to stick around and get them."

"Although that is correct, now he's more like ex-White Fang," Morven explained crossing his arms, "and considering how hard his brother was trying to kill him, I'd guess that soon enough they'll issue a kill warrant on him ."

Fenrir glared at this and turned to Morven spitting in a heated tone, "you know just telling a stranger my business is pretty rude, especially when it has nothing to do with her Morven."

Raising his eyebrows again, Morven gave Fenrir a tired look before looking back at Yang explaining, "Ms. Xiao-Long is actually our newest addition right now, and when registered she will be authorized with almost the same clearance as Winter and myself, regarding information gathered in the field that is."

"Really?" Fenrir asked, looking incredulously between the blonde and the Specialist, "please tell me this is a joke right," he said waiting to see if it really was some sort of joke.

"Yeah really!" Yang growled, raising her voice, eyes flashing red as she sized up the Faunus who looked genuinely surprised at her reaction and replied, "wow that's a rare sight to see, it's not everyday a girl's eyes change color like that. So what's your secret Blondie we can keep this just between us and those two won't know a thing…"

"All it is Mr. Argyros, is a manifestation of her semblance and emotions," Morven interrupted pulling out his scroll, "her file states that it's not only seen by her eyes, but also the almost fiery effect that can be seen in her hair when angered."

Hearing this Yang's eyes immediately reverted back to their normal lilac color, her face plastered with a look of surprise as she stared at Morven's calm face asking, "how do you know that much about me?"

"Like I said, we had a file to review of both you and your father before coming to Patch. In said file, we compiled all the information we know about the two of you, as well as several of your teammates and associates," Morven replied evenly pocketing his scroll again. "When we arrive in Atlas, Winter will take you to Headquarters after settling you in, there you'll get your access to all the records you could want depending on your clearance."

Yang was shocked to say the least, she knew that the people from Atlas were well informed and they had some of the most capable information gathering systems, but she had no idea that this Specialist, one who she had met not to long ago, had that much information on her and her team. Yang's thoughts were interrupted upon hearing the side hatch open, turning she watched Winter enter, her demeanor seeming completely different from when the two Specialists had first arrived with her gift from the General.

"So I take it now that she's here we can finally get a move on," Winter said ignoring Yang and Fenrir's presence moving beside Morven, "I told the pilot to get ready to leave at a moment's notice so now we are just waiting on you Morven."

"Alright thank you Winter, I'll head up to the command deck and let them know we are all ready down here, could you please supervise these two while I'm gone," Morven said gesturing to their young guests. "I'll be back later after I prepare my report for the General so you're in charge now." With that Morven walked off too the bridge leaving a irritated Winter, her face a mixture of annoyance and much to Yang's surprise, heartache.

After a moment Winter finally spoke again asking, "well how are you settling in Yang," snapping her attention back to the blonde, her piercing blue eyes seeming to rove over her at lightning speed making Yang feel as though she was being peered under a microscope.

"Well this is all very new to me but so far Morven has been very gentlemanly to me," Yang replied quickly catching Winter's twitch at the mention of kind her partner was being. "Yeah he is quite the professional isn't he," Winter commented internally fuming, _"don't you even think about it you blonde bimbo, I've had my claim to him for years now so there's no way in hell I'm leaving you alone with him,"_ turning to Fenrir she shot him a smug smile seeing his face go pale as the ship started to lift off.

"Looks like we are finally on our way," Yang said nervously, the idea of traveling to a whole new Kingdom having an almost surreal feeling to it which Winter picked up saying, "I take it you've never been outside the Kingdom of Vale," spotting the nervous way Yang was wringing her hands, "If you have any questions I'd be more then happy to answer them for you, Morven and I are quite well traveled considering our line of work."

"I have one, can I at least get a goddamn barf bag already before this flying monstrosity becomes the death for me!" Fenrir groaned loudly as he went as pale as a ghost. For him being stuck in a cell with two humans while becoming sick as a dog was rather embarrassing.

"You're kidding me right, this guy gets airsick, oh this is priceless," Yang laughed clutching her sides, "I thought most of the White Fang were tough killers but this is almost too funny."

Fenrir glared at the blonde human laughing at him and growled, "hey you better watch who you're laughing at blondie, how would you feel if you had airsickness, and just so you know not all Faunus are killers we are just misunderstood."

"Misunderstood huh," Winter snapped glaring down at Fenrir, "try telling that to the loved ones of the Atlas soldiers you monsters killed at Beacon, or how about the just the countless civilians that have lost their lives because of your kinds fight for justice." Winter turned her cold eyes to Yang and sighed deeply, her thoughts drifting to the men and women that served beneath her that wouldn't be returning home.

Fenrir gave her a glare that would terrify any normal person and spat, "Well if your fucking father did not treat us like slaves we wouldn't be acting this way having to do this shit!" Fenrir took a deep breath before calming down using his free hand to clutch his scarf tightly.

Yang standing quietly next to Winter looked away, her voice barely audible as she whispered, "yeah but a dear friend once told me that the White Fang wasn't always violent like they are now, so is it truly wrong for them to hate us? Us humans I mean."

Looking incredulously at Yang Winter scoffed again, her lips pursing as if she wanted to say more then then stopping, with an almost angry sigh she stormed off leaving Yang alone with Fenrir who also looked confused at Yang's words. He looked at the blonde brawler giving her a small smile, his crimson eyes meeting her lilac orbs whispering, "whoever your friend is she sounds like a good person, who believed in the old ways, before we went from trying to bring peace to a group of killers, but I just did what I thought was right." Looking at Yang with a understanding smile as if knowing the true meaning behind her words.

Sighing deeply Yang looked at Fenrir and shrugged, "she wanted peace and equality too but the methods that were being used were enough to drive her away, at least that's what she always told me anyway," the room falling silent besides the thrum of the engines as they flew across the sky to Atlas.

Fenrir stayed silent as he looked at Yang, his gaze starting with her face but then eventually trailing down to her arm, the curiosity about it kicking in making him decide to ask to her about it saying, "not that it's any of my business, but what's the story behind that arm" he said pointing to her metal arm.

Still feeling self conscious about the arm Yang turned away, a scathing remark on the tip of her tongue but she could tell from his voice he meant nothing by it, taking a deep breath Yang turned around and said, "I lost my arm during the fall of Beacon. While I was out trying to find one of my teammates I found her cornered by Adam Taurus, because I wasn't focused and I let my emotions get the best of me Adam not only hurt one of my closest friends, but also crippled me."

Hearing that Adam was the one who hurt her Fenrir immediately stiffened up, he knew that telling her he was one of the direct students under him would do nothing but make her hate him even more. Seeing how downcast her expression became he could only choke out a half hearted, "dammit, I'm sorry I didn't mean to bring it up now I feel like asshole, sometimes I forget to follow my mothers advice but if it makes you feel better, I promise you that I was not involved in the attack on Beacon."

"While that might be true it's like Winter said, a lot of people died that day and we almost lost a whole Kingdom, that means that with the help of your actions, one of the pillars of our world versus the darkness is gone." Yang took another deep breath and looked at Fen again before saying in a frustrated tone, "you should know that if our world falls, your are part of the blame."

Fenrir sat quietly while looking at the blonde thinking to himself selfishly, _"she thinks she knows what she's talking about, try being in my shoes and having to face all the discrimination, not to mention losing the only person who cared for me, she is no different then that bitch Schnee, blaming the Faunus when we were just fighting for our freedom,"_ the wolf faunus thought looking at Yang with a mixture of emotions, one being regret for killing innocent people, while the other was anger, anger for what the humans had done to him and his family.

Fenrir was about to open his mouth and respond angrily when the airship suddenly shifted sharply causing him to pale, and all over the ship alarms began blaring a warning saying multiple Grimm have begun to attack the ship. "Aww dammit," Fenrir groaned turning from pale to green as the airship rocked again, a blur of black and red flying past the window with a ear splitting screech as a Gryphon flew by. "Just when I thought flying couldn't get worse now we have to deal with a fucking Grimm attacking us, I just can't catch a break.

"Attention everyone," Morvens voice suddenly came across the intercom getting their attention, "we have multiple Gryphons attacking as well as an alpha class Nevermore on rapid approach, those who are not needed for critical jobs please, return to your quarters and secure yourselves, Winter meet me at the upper hatch, we're dealing with that Nevermore."

"Wait, Morven and Winter are going to fight that thing from the top of the ship?" Yang asked looking at Fenrir noticing his angry expression despite how sick he was looking.

"Goddammit! I feel so useless being locked up in this fucking cage, if only I could bust out of here then I could probably help," he yelled looking out the window only to be greeted by the sight of the Alpha Nevermore flying past the ship straight up into the sky.

"Alright everyone brace yourselves," the Captain now cried over taking over the intercom, "we're going to engage evasive maneuvers to buy us some time."

"Wait what did he say," Fenrir moaned, the feeling of weightlessness as the nose of the ship sharply angled down towards the ocean being too much for him. Making one last effort Fenrir twisted and managed to snag the empty trash can in time before throwing up.

"I'm gonna go to go up top and see if they need help," Yang shouted to Fenrir running towards the hatch stopping right before exiting, "you'll be ok in here right Fen," her lilac eyes meeting his red ones, the concern in her voice surprising him. Sharply breaking their gaze, Fenrir turned back to the trash can vomiting again before muttering, "go, I don't need you here anyway and I doubt they'll need your help too."

Scoffing at his words Yang headed down the hallway following, the signs leading to the top of the ship, the anticipation of seeing the two Specialists in action making her run even faster up the last flight of stairs stopping at the base of a ladder upon seeing the scathing look Winter gave her before she demanded heatedly, "what are you doing here Yang," holding her hand out to stop the brawler, her eyes noting that Yang had her combat gauntlets on, and a determined attitude about her.

"I'm here to help you and Morven," Yang retorted staring back at the older Schnee, "I figured you two could use the help even if it's just from a student like me," Yang's metal fist clenched as she heard movement from behind her and turned around to find Morven entering the hallway, a sort of thoughtful expression lightning his face when he spotted her.

"Hello Ms. Xiao-Long, I'm assuming you came to help us," his voice even as he moved past her to the ladder giving Winter a nod, "while we appreciate the gesture Yang, this is something to leave to the professionals, at least in the scenario." Giving Yang another smile Morven began climbing up the ladder and opening the hatch, pausing only to give Yang a confident smile, "If you want though you can see how Specialists get the job done, maybe you'll learn something from watching us."

Following Morven out the hatch, Winter first conjured up her hold glyph to hold them in place before she pulled her own sword mirroring Morven as he unsheathed his own and looked at the flock of Gryphons that were rapidly closing in on the airship, the ones and twos that were already circling around them gave a screech of anger before diving down at the two Specialists who stood their ground.

"Winter, keep me on the ship, I'll deal with the Grimm," Morven yelled sidestepping the first Gryphon and slashing through one of it's wings, the beast screeching as it skid across the hull trying to use it's claws to stay onboard, another Gryphon using this as a distraction suddenly came flying towards Morven from up and under the ship, it's talons open and going straight for his back as Winter cried out, "Morven behind you!"

Crawling up the ladder and peeking out, Yang managed to catch Morven turn around with almost inhuman speed and gut the Gryphon that was flying at him from behind, his blade easily slicing through the tough skin, muscle, and bone of it's chest making it land in a bloody heap atop the airship giving one last screech before falling silent, it's death putting throwing the remaining Grimm into a frenzy.

"Yang keep your head down," Morven called out spotting Yang poking her head out of the hatch following the Grimm with her eyes, "it's about to get a little hectic here." As if on cue the ship began to tip to the side forcing Winter to widen her glyph catching Morven sliding towards the edge, another Gryphon screeching as it fell unable to fly.

"Hey you be careful too Morven," Winter called sounding exasperated as he gave her a grateful nod getting back to his feet, the rest of the Grimm getting closer as the massive Nevermore circled around once again, it's red eyes focusing in on the white haired ex-heiress as it made one last pass, unleashing a torrent of arrow-like feathers into the hull of the airship forcing Yang to duck back into the ship while Winter dove out of the way.

"Dammit," Yang hissed ducking down as one of the feathers pierced the hull next to her, the Nevermore giving an almost gleeful shriek in response as it dove again disappearing into the clouds as the rest of the Gryphons resumed their attack on the specialists.

Three of the Grimm left the flock first flying straight for Winter, their talons outstretched ready to grab her and take her away only to be blasted out of the air by a shards of ice, leaping from one glyph to another Winter pulled her blade and passing over one one the Gryphons she sliced deep into one of it's wings sending it crashing into the hull, it's talons scraping the metal of the ship as it tried to cling on before getting blown off. Winter who leapt again twisted to dodge the next one the came up silently from behind and miscalculated, to Yang it appeared she was going to fly off the side into the open air.

Panic gripped Winter as she could feel the wind begin to catch her and carry her away, opening her mouth to cry out for her partner she suddenly felt a hand grab her wrist stopping her fall, looking up she met Morvens collected gaze as he held her over the edge, his sword embedded deep in the side of the airship keeping them both from sailing away.

"Up you go Winter," Morven said with a grunt pulling Winter back up onto the top of the ship sliding in front of her to fend off another Gryphon who dove in for an attack, this time rather than slashing at the wings, Morven aimed for the beast's neck and easily cut through with one slash splattering his white trench coat with it's blood standing before Winter, not allowing a single drop to land on her.

Winter looked up her partner and could only smirk at the irritated expression on his face as he looked at himself, when he turned around to face the other Gryphons she could see that all across his back the blood was splattered and stained upon his faded coat as he muttered something under his breath before raising his blade up into the sky pointing towards the rest of the Gryphons closing in.

"Winter get back inside the ship with Yang," Morven growled roughly reaching inside his trench coat pulling out his aviators and coolly placing them on his face, "I feel as though we've wasted enough valuable time dealing with these pests as it is, so I'm taking them out now so we can focus on the bigger problem at hand."

Winter nodded seeing the golden streaks along Morvens storm razor begin to glow, and dashed back to the hatch Yang was poking out of, using one last glyph she launched herself and landed gracefully beside Yang before looking back her mind racing, _"lightning, does that mean he doesn't need my boost glyph anymore,"_ she asked herself in awe watching him activate his swords ripper mode, the edges of the blade suddenly splitting into a jagged chainsaw as the golden streaks burned bright along his blade.

"Finally I get to test this out in an actual fight ," Morven breathed activating the second stage of his storm razor, the crackle of lightning becoming more prominent over the roar of the winds and the airship's engines, "if this works I'll be able to work some better moves out utilizing stage two," the sky darkened slightly as he drew his blade back staring calmly at the flock before finally whispering, "Fall to my Tempest."

Back inside the airship Fenrir still sick to his stomach felt a sudden change in the air, the hairs on the back of his neck standing as he looked up from the trash can out the window to see a now dark sky surrounding the airship, groaning to himself, "great now we flew into a storm, what else can go wrong," Fenrir leaning back against the bulkhead, his red eyes unable to leave the window as the low rumble of thunder and crackle of lightning could be heard all around them.

"Everyone," the Captain's voice suddenly called out from the intercom again getting his attention, "we are going to ride through the storm so brace yourselves and don't worry, Specialist Morven is using the storm so we will all be fine, I repeat we will all be fine so please stay in your quarters and remain calm."

Fenrir sat still for a full second processing this new information before laughing to himself and looking back outside, the lightening flashing as he said to himself with a nervous chuckle, "ha I guess that's why they call him the storm commander," the crashing boom from above rocking the ship causing Fenrir to to pale once more as he saw the bodies of singed and burned Grimm drop from above.

On the top of the ship a slightly singed Morven stood looking at the aftermath of his tempest, singed black feathers and smell of burnt flesh hanging heavily in the air as the surviving Gryphons retreated, an unusual but not unheard of thing for older Grimm who knew they were outmatched. Exhaling his held breath Morven turned back to Winter and Yang, reaching up to remove his glasses, as a dark shadow suddenly passed over him he froze as Yang yelled pushing past Winter pointing up into the sky, "Morven! The Nevermore, watch out It's coming back for another attack."

A piercing cry of triumph came from the beast as it came crashing down upon the airship, the whole vessel losing altitude as Winter, Morven,and Yang were all thrown up into the air. Ack inside the ship passengers that were not secured slammed into the bulkheads, Fenrir too was thrown slamming against the ceiling violently crying out in again at his own discomfort and pain before hitting the deck again.

" _Dammit,"_ Morven thought within a split second narrowing his eyes at the Nevermore, _"looks like I have no choice but to use it,"_ suddenly all around Morven the world fell still as he focused his aura into his Semblance, the three bands on his arm darkening slightly before only the bottom one faded.

5...

Swiftly twisting and landing on his feet Morven flash stepped towards the beast, his eyes darting all over the place locking in every detail in his mind as he surveyed everything above the ship and around the ship.

4…

Looking over to where the girls hanging frozen in the air to his left as he dashed, and noting their position, Morven then glared back at the Nevermore, his plan fresh in his mind as he calculated his next moves, _"kill the Nevermore, grab Winter and Yang, don't fall off the ship, seems easy enough."_

3…

Activating the ripper blade again Morven took one last step before leaping at the Nevermore, with a single slash he easily parted it's head from its body, placing his foot on the stump where it's head was Morven then kicked off, the force of the kick multiplying due to everything else being frozen as he headed back to where the girls were still floating, frozen in time.

2…

" _Yang's tough so she'll be fine with the landing,"_ Morven reasoned leaping up to the same height of the airborne girls, just barely pushing Yang back in the direction of the ship before turning in midair back to Winter, gulping once he gently wrapped his arms around her as he felt time begin to resume once more.

1…

For Winter and Yan, who not even a split second had passed witnessed the Nevermore that had crashed into the airship suddenly lose it's head and get launched back at breakneck speed back over the side splattering the area with it's icor like blood as it fell.

Yang who suddenly felt herself change direction in midair towards the ship heard Morven shout from behind her, twisting she saw him throw his blade towards her shouting, "Yang use this." With speed surprising herself Yang shot out her new right arm and skillfully caught the blade tumbling once before hitting the top, bouncing and sliding towards the edge, realizing his intentions for giving her his weapon Yang stabbed his sword into the hull instantly halting her, breathing a sigh of relief she looked back up too see Morven and Winter sail over the opposite side.

"Morven what were you thinking doing this!" Winter screamed in his ear as the two of them fell, the Airship seemingly moving in slow motion as he held her answering back with a shout, "Winter I planned this perfectly," Morven shouted back over the roar of the wind pulling her close, "use your glyphs and get us back on the ship."

"Yeah I got it!" Winter grumbled to herself ignoring the sense of vertigo as they flipped one last time before gently landing on her conjured glyph, after all the turning in the air and the two of them finally coming to a stop, as this happened Winter realized Morven was holding her princess style for the first time in years, becoming only slightly flustered Winter regained her composure and with the force of her glyph sent the two of them flying back towards the hatch, the two of them sticking the landing before a disheveled looking Yang.

"Wow that was quite the landing," Yang commented still breathing heavily from getting launched by the Nevermore, "What happened during all of that Morven, one second we're all flying through the air and then the next that Grimm is dead, and I go flying while you appear next to Winter," realizing she was still holding his sword Yang gave a sheepish grin and handed it back noticing that the three bands tattoo on his right forearm now had one ring faded.

"Thanks Yang and well you see…" Morven started before he was cut off by Winter who just sharply told her, "that's classified right now Yang, but if you decide to stick around with us then we'll tell you," the hostility in her voice silencing Yang for the time being. With that the three reentered the ship breathing heavily from their fight returning to where they had left their prisoner.

 **Back inside the Airship**

"Dammit what was that," Fenrir groaned pushing himself up to his feet, looking to see some blood lightly splattered across the window he thought to himself shaking his head, _"something just happened, I can't tell exactly what it was because that fight ended way faster than expected, who is that Specialist?"_ Fenrir's thoughts were interrupted as Winter, Yang and Morven entered the room, all of them breathing heavier the usual and Morven the only one with blood on him.

"Alright everyone the Grimm have been dealt with so it should be smooth flying from here," the captain said in an almost forced cheerful tone over the intercom, "those who require medical attention please notify our resident physician and they will be with you shortly, that is all."

Clenching his fist Fenrir listened to Captain before yelling, "hey you can go ahead and send someone in here, I think I might have gotten a concussion from your shitty flying!" trying to stand back up he lost his balance and fell flat on the floor, not bothering to try again he sat there looking at the trio with an irritated look, his tail moving from side to side in an agitated fashion.

"You know he can't hear you unless you use the intercom Mr. Argyros," Morven said with a halfhearted chuckle pulling out a an old looking cloth and wiping down his sword, once the blade was spotless he sheathed it and turned back to Fenrir giving him a somewhat concerned look which made Fenrir spit out, "what's with that face, don't tell me you're concerned about me Morv," narrowing his eyes at the swordsman, "what the hell was that thing you did on top of this pile of scrap anyway, for some reason it felt like for a split second there was a pause, mind filling me in?"

Hearing this a look a disbelief came across Winter's face. "I'm actually impressed dog," Winter said haughtily glaring at Fenrir, "not many untrained people are even capable of noticing that temporal disturbance, let alone figuring out Morven was the source of it." "Now do you see why I was so adamant about bringing him with us," Morven said giving Fenrir a nod of approval, "there is something about this one, so during his hearing I'm going to request they allow him to be my ward."

"Well my mother always said I was very observant even at a very young age, guess that one the perks of being a wolf faunus," Fenrir said to no one in particular a hint of sadness in his voice at the mention of his mother. "I do want to know what you mean by ward though," Fenrir said immediately switching back to being wary of the Specialist, "are you meaning you're going to own me like some sort of slave?"

Morven looked almost offended at this and just shook his head as Winter hissed, "what he's saying you ungrateful dog, is that he is going to request to take the risk and responsibility for your past crimes and give you pretty much a clean slate, a slate", Winter said shooting Morven a shocked look before finishing, "that I personally don't think you deserve."

Fenrir looked at the Specialist shocked, as his tail stoped wagging. " _Why would this human do something like that for me? It doesn't make any sense, I'm in a member of the White Fang, if anything he should have killed me back at vale, but yet here he is risking his job for me."_

"I see something in you Fenrir," Morven said his tone becoming much more serious as they locked eyes, "I feel as though just cause how you were raised, and maybe due to your situation you were forced into the White Fang, but if you could've made the decision yourself I'd like to think that we'd be working towards the same goal, towards the peace and safety for all those who call Remnant home."

Nodding to the Faunus one last time, Morven turned to Winter and gestured for her to lead the way, the two specialist about to leave when Morven stopped looking back at Fenrir and add, "I'll have one of the onboard medics stop by to check your head, I wouldn't want you to suffer any serious injuries before we arrive at Atlas."

Fenrir stayed quiet and watched Morven leave, his tail stiffening up slightly staying on guard as his mind raced, " _I guess I should give this guy a chance, I mean he's the first human who's treated me with any form of respect so maybe he's not all bad,"_ he thought, turning his sights to Yang who had been quiet this entire time.

That guy is really something huh," Yang said almost to herself as she met Fenrir's gaze, the two of them staring at eachother for almost a minute before she cleared her throat expectantly at the Faunus before saying, "hey you gonna say something to me, or are you just going to sit and stare at me?"

Fenrir shook his head before saying, "sorry it's just that I'm not used to talking with humans, so I'm a bit uneasy, but if there's one thing that my mom always tell me is to be polite to anyone I meet," he said with a hint of sadness in his voice.

Yang raised her eyebrow and shook her head saying in a disappointed tone, "your mother taught you that, yet you were still killing innocent people just trying to escape the Grimm, what do you think she would say if she saw you now," Yang's lilac eyes searching his face for any sign of remorse for his actions.

Fenrir glared angrily at the blonde brawler, "let's get one thing clear blondie, you don't know a damn thing about me, you didn't have to deal with the glares, the verbal or physical abuse I had to endure my entire childhood, so don't you dare lecture me about what I did, it's because of judgemental people like you that I joined the White Fang," Fenrir yelled as he glared at Yang for a few more seconds before turning away from her and closing his eyes.

Seeing Fenrir begin to close up emotionally Yang looked away, an abashed expression came across her face as she sighed and approached him, moving beside him she could see the paleness returning to his face as another bout of airsickness began to start, kneeling beside him she gently placed her hand on his shoulder and sighed again trying to get his attention.

" _Man I need to learn how to control my temper, she was just speaking her mind, I shouldn't have snapped at her like that, after everything she's has been through, but she had no right to bring up mom like that,"_ Fenrir thought as he felt the blonde humans hand on his shoulder, causing him to flinch slightly, never in his life had a human comforted him before, after letting it all out he turned his head slightly to look at the blonde human, his red eyes meeting her lilac orbs.

"I'm sorry Fen, I overstepped my boundaries," Yang muttered quietly removing her hand from his shoulder and standing up, looking around the room she spotted the trashcan that he had been using earlier when he was sick and grimaced, walking over and picking it up Yang brought it over to Fenrir and patted his shoulder again before moving to leave without saying another word.

"Yang wait," Fenrir muttered catching her hand as she tried to leave, looking up at her his expression a mixture of just being tired and scared halting her for a second. His voice catching in his throat as he looked up at her, the cool metal of her hand not even fazing him as he noticed a faint red color start to appear on her cheeks.

"Umm excuse me is there a Fenrir Argyros here," an elderly voice said coming from behind Yang causing her to jerk her hand back from Fenrir, turning around to look at the small elderly medical officer pushing a small cart that walked into the room, the red on her cheeks quickly disappearing as she pointed behind her to the Faunus.

"Yeah he's right here Ma'am," Yang said quickly stepping out of the way allowing the elderly woman past her, "I believe he said something about being worried about having a concussion or something from that bit of turbulence we hit when fighting the Grimm."

"Ahh thank you deary," the woman said cheerfully not even surprised at the sight of the young Faunus, pulling her cart right besides him she clucked her gums noticing his pale complexion and the trashcan beside him before asking, "are you also suffering from airsickness young man besides the pain in your head?"

For Fenrir two sympathetic humans was surprising enough, but with this third one appearing and checking him over medically he couldn't help but let an animalistic whimper of discomfort leave his lips, a noise that didn't even deter the old lady as she pulled out a small handheld scanner from her cart and began waving it over him, merrily humming to herself as she checked him, Fenrir was surprised to hear a loud click and, it took a full second for him to realize that she had just undone the handcuffs that held him in place.

"Please don't think about running away dear," he heard her say suddenly grabbing his chin with a surprisingly strong grip bringing his eyes to hers, to his shock he found that she also had dark red eyes, eyes that as soon they met his his, they seemed to glow slightly and his body began to slip out of his control becoming sluggish, "don't worry I'm not going to hurt you Fenrir," he heard her say softly releasing her hold on him, "Morven sent me specifically to check your wounds and make sure you are doing fine."

"W-w-what did you do to me," Fenrir struggled to say as he fell onto to his side, the small woman kneeling over him muttering to herself as she looked over her instruments, "you said M-M-Morven sent you, why isn't he here then supervising then, making sure I don't overpower you and escape?"

"Sweety you think you're in any condition to try and overpower me," she said tittering to herself quietly placing the scanner back on her cart before lightly pressing on the side of his head, "tell me Fenrir does this hurt when I press here?"

"Ahh!" Fenrir growled loudly before saying in a much more polite tone, "yeah it hurts behind my head Ma'am," as the nurse pressed again on the back of his head, while Yang looked at the wolf faunus with a slight grin on her face, which thankfully he didn't notice.

"Alright it's just what I thought then, nothing too serious just a little bump on the head not even bad enough to consider a concussion," the old woman said with a little chuckle before reaching back onto her cart rummaging for a second before pulling out a needle and a vial containing some clear liquid.

"Could have fooled me,"Fenrir said sarcastically before noticing the needle in the woman's hand, making the wolf Faunus pale harder then when the Grimm attacked, "W-w-w what the hell is that thing in your hands," he almost yelled as he saw the woman pull up the sleeve of his jacket.

"Please calm down Fenrir," the medic said wiping his arm down with some rubbing alcohol before she started counting down, "five, four, three…" Fenrir closed his eyes and waited for the needle enter him. "Two, and alright you're done now Fenrir," she said with a little laugh putting the needle away placing a small bandage on his bicep, "I can't believe big ol' you was scared of a little pinprick like that, oh this is a hoot," she said laughing to herself as she finished packing up cart.

"Wait what," Fenrir opened his eyes and looked at the old woman in confusion before it dawned on him that she had just played him for a fool, growling slightly he realized that he had movement in his body again and sat up again looking the old woman in the eyes again with a glare before turning to Yang who was stifling her own laughter.

"Hey eyes over her wolfie," the medic said turning his gaze back to her, "I'm going to ask you to turn around now and lift your shirt up so I can check out the stitches on your back alright, Morven mentioned that he wasn't sure he did a good enough so he wanted me to look them over."

Nodding his head the Faunus took off his shirt exposing his bare chest before muttering, "well I hope you can do a better job than he did, otherwise I'll be in some deep shit," the sarcasm in his voice obvious as he turned his head to the blonde human who had been giving him a strange look the entire time, most likely because the scars on his body.

"Well that's awfully rude of you Fenrir," the medic clucked again gently checking the area around the stitches before looking at them directly, "his stitches are actually fine, not as flawless as my own work but nonetheless doing their job." Nodding for Fenrir to put his shirt back on she then turned to Yang and gave her a questioning look.

"For what it's worth thanks doc," Fenrir said as he sat back down against the bulkhead, the click of the handcuffs sounding as the medic swiftly cuffed him back in before giving him a almost sad look, "sorry Fenrir but you are a prisoner and you have to be secured, Morven must trust you to some extent though normally prisoners end up in the windowless detention wing, anyway that injection should help with your airsickness, and if you need anymore attention I'll be sure to take care of you."

Moving towards the door the medic paused and looked at Yang, her gaze going from her face down to her right arm before asking, "so how long have you had that arm young lady, your body seems to be accepting it rather well, or is that just an attachment and not fused in yet?"

"Well I'm still getting used to it, but what do you mean fused in," Yang said giving the woman a confused look, "I mean I can take it off whenever I want, but I wish I could do something about how it looks, I feel like when I get around people that's all they'll be looking at."

"Why worry about that blondie, what you should be worried about is what the soldiers in Atlas will think, when they are see that smoking hot body once we arrive," Fenrir chuckled under his breath and a smirk on his face.

Yang didn't hear exactly what he said, but judging from the smirk he had on his face she shot him a dirty look before turning back to the old woman saying, "I was going to talk to Morven about it when we arrived at Atlas but if you know any information about the arms I'd like to hear it."

"Well there are some things that they could do for you young lady, although I'll tell you now, the procedure can be very painful but at the end of it they'll give you a almost indistinguishable synthetic skin to cover the arm making it look and feel the same as normal flesh, if that's the route you want to take I suggest you do talk to Morven about it, he'll give you the full details on it and take you to have your arm reformed."

"Alright thank you… I'm sorry we never even asked your name," Yang said becoming slightly flustered at her rudeness, "what's your name Ma'am?"

"Oh don't worry about it you two, you kids can just call me Eve, everyone does," she said with a cheerful smile, "well anyways I have to run along, I'm sure there are plenty of other injuries I have to see too so the two of you take care."

Watching Eve leave Fenrir then shifted his gaze back to Yang who stood awkwardly in the doorway before chipping in saying, "I think you should go through with the procedure blondie, who knows it might even help you out mentally," Fenrir said as he looked at Yang's face.

"Yeah well whatever decision I go with," Yang said tersely looking at Fenrir, "it's not going to have to do with what you say, now I'm going to go find where I'm staying on this ship, so don't miss me too much," she said with a flip of her hair before walking out, a general idea of where the crew quarters was in her mind as she left.

Fenrir leaned back and closed his eyes, whatever Eve had given him working since he only felt slightly groggy and not violently sick like he was earlier, thinking to himself, _"damn this just keeps getting weirder and weirder for me, I just hope that when we get to Atlas these humans will start to make more sense to me,"_ sighing deeply to himself he shifted till he found a comfortable position and drifted off to sleep, not necessarily at ease, but also not completely worried anymore.

 **Meanwhile back in Winters Quarters**

"I thought you told me Morven you were going to cut back on using that stage of your Semblance, " Winter said heatedly removing her coat and placing it in her closet before turning back to her partner, "Morven ever since you've discovered that side of your Semblance you've been wary of it, and I think for good reason too otherwise you wouldn't have asked me to lecture you every time you use it like that."

"I know Winter," Morven replied slipping of his jacket as well and setting it on the back of a chair before sitting down, his eyes never leaving Winter as he watched her stride over to him, their eyes locking onto each other as she just plopped herself in his lap.

"How long has it been Morven," Winter asked a strange tone entering her voice as she rested her head against his chest not moving before asking again, "how long have we known each other, I'm not talking about when we were kids and our parents were doing business, I'm talking about us as adults… As partners Morven, how long have we been close?"

Having Winter this close to him Morven immediately tensed up, he looked down and met her clear blue eyes with his own and felt his heart rate speed up as she leaned against him, swallowing once Morven shakily answered, "It's been almost seven years Winter, seven years since I've been with you, _and they have honestly been the best years of my life,"_ Morven added mentally standing suddenly picking Winter up and carrying her towards her bed.

"Morven what are you doing," Winter said her voice going up a pitch as she looked and realized he was carrying her towards her bed, looking up all emotion aside from a determined look on his face making her think, _"On my god it's finally going to happen,"_ her heart pounding in her chest as they moved closer to the bed, her breathing getting heavier until she realized that she had no idea where to start, and before Winter could say anything she suddenly she was on her bed with Morven looking down at her, a strange look on his face as he stared into her eyes.

"Winter… We've been together for a long time as partners and I trust you with my life, and I would do anything to keep you safe because… Well you are very special to me," Morven's cheeks reddened slightly at this and he stood up straight releasing Winter with a laugh.

Seeing Morven begin to move away, Winter shot her hand out and grabbed his halting him, her gaze pleading as looked at him, inside she was crying out, _"please… Stay with me."_ "I'm sorry Winter," Morven started, his voice having a regrettable tone to it as he reached and stroked her cheek, "I still have that report to type up for the General, then wash the blood off my coat, and the go check on Fenrir later, his hearing is going to have nothing in his favor and I do want to help him."

"But why Morven? Why is this Faunus so important Morven," Winters voice took on a harsher tone as their prisoner was brought up, "ever since we found him you've been incredibly protective of him, even stepping between him and the entirety of the White Fang," Winter stared at Morven trying to find out what was going through his mind, her hand moving to his on her cheek as she closed her eyes, the silent fear in her heart becoming more realized.

" _That Faunus is going to get him killed,"_ every fiber of Winter's being screamed to her as she stared into her partner's strange eyes thinking of the wolf Faunus, the more she thought about it the more it seemed like finding him as he needed saving seemed to be very convenient, almost as if it was a set up. Pulling Morven down to her Winter waited till he finally met her gaze, she then asked in a scared voice, "what do you know about him, what have you seen?"

The two of them stayed like that for a minute in silence before Morven finally replied, "I didn't see anything Winter, it's not like the kid is some savior or he's going to bring peace to the human and Faunus, it's just that I wanted to help him out of a situation that I feel he was forced into, he may be sounding aggressive now but can you blame him, to him for the longest time we've been the enemy, and now he's being held prisoner while still being treated with respect, I'd have a hard time trying to wrap my head around that too if I was raised being told that humans are cruel."

"Morven I just can't help but feel that trusting him is going to lead to something bad happening," Winter's hands dropped to her lap as she realized that no matter what she said, he had already made up his mind. Sighing deeply Winter just shook her head before giving Morven a sad smile and whispering, "you know I feel the same way about you… I don't want anything to happen to you either."

Smiling and stroking Winter's cheek one last time Morven bid her goodnight, grabbing his jacket and sword off the chair Morven returned to his own quarters right next door, a sigh of relief escaping his lips as he closed the door behind him as he thought to himself, _"I wish I could tell you the future Winter, hell I wish I could know the future just for my own peace of mind,"_ looking at his desk with his report half typed Morven gave a tired sigh and sat down returning once again to his work, knowing that for good or bad this decision was going to change their lives.

 **Eight uneventful hours later**

"Hey it's time to wake up now Mr. Argyros we have finally arrived," an even voice said waking Fenrir from his surprising deep and restful sleep, he looked up to find Morven standing over him, the Specialist not looking nervous per se, but something did seem to be agitating him as he unlocked the cuffs keeping Fenrir in place before offering his hand saying, "now you're in our territory so I suggest that you listen to me and don't even think about running, not everyone around here thinks as clearly as me and wouldn't hesitate to kill you if they perceive you as a threat.

Looking up at Morven, Fenrir narrowed his red eyes at first before realizing that the Specialist was just trying to give him some advice, scoffing and ignoring the hand offered to help him Fenrir stood and looked Morven in the eyes again before finally nodding and held out his hands before muttering, "I would at least hope you'd try to stop my would be killers since you're so damn honorable, but anyway where are the others, I mean a big day like this I would think your partner would be jumping in joy to bring me to the General, since she hates my guts," Fenrir chuckled completely changing his tone as the two of them headed towards the main loading bay, with the Specialist holding his shoulder as they walked.

"Winter and Yang should already be just ahead, and as for my partner's views on the matter, I'd prefer to keep that opinion to myself," a slight bit of annoyance in Morvens voice as they arrived to find the bay busy with workers unloading and checking over gear, one of whom was approaching them with a tired and irritating look.

"Specialist Morven, while all of us appreciate you and your partner Winter for eliminating the Grimm attacking us during our flight back to Atlas, I have to ask you to please remember that these airships are quite expensive to maintain and operate, so on behalf of my fellow workers I'd like to ask you to please be a bit more careful around our equipment."

"Hey mate try being in my shoes, I suffer from airsickness so being off this flying death trap is like a blessing from the gods," Fenrir laughed glad to be out of the dreadful bullhead.

"Yes while I'm sure the flight was most unpleasant for you but this is a much more serious matter," head worker said ignoring the interruption, and giving Fenrir the typical look of those who harbored grudges against the White Fang, turning back to Morven and continuing saying, "at any rate please do remember to not cause so much trouble when you're traveling with us alright," with that the worker strode off immediately yelling at several of his underlings who seemed to be just standing around.

"Alright Mr. Argyros let keep moving, I have the feeling that the General himself is going to be arriving so I'd prefer to not keep him waiting," Fenrir could hear the almost imperceptible edge to his voice as Morven nudged him along down the catwalk, looking around he easily spotted the mane of blonde hair that belonged to Yang as she walked her motorcycle out of the bay, Winter elegantly walking beside her seemingly deep in thought.

" _Maybe I should apologize to Yang for the comment I made in the ship yesterday,"_ Fenrir thought as he walked down the catwalk stealing a glance at the blonde beauty, _"I mean so far it's just been her and and Morven who have treated me like a actual person, well them and Eve, maybe I should just…"_ Fenrir was jerked out of his thoughts when a deep booming voice called out, "Morven, so you're finally made it back from that little side mission you were sent on, although I did not expect you to come back with souvenirs."

Fenrir turned first towards the voice, the hackles on the back of his neck rising as he instantly figured out who the voice belonged too from just looking at the man, he was a tall well built man in his late thirties, with neatly combed back black hair and a good amount of stubble on his face, wearing a white double-breasted Atlas officer tailcoat with blue accents, with a black collared shirt with a red tie underneath that and a massive revolver on his hip Fenrirthought to himself, " _so that's General James Ironwood, I gotta say he sure as hell looks a lot taller in person, I should play it safe right now and not get on his badside."_

"Welcome back Morven, I must say I'm a bit surprised that it took you longer than expected to complete your mission," Ironwood said in a casual tone striding up to the two before turning his sights on the Faunus giving him a look of distaste, "so this must be one of the White Fang from Vale, I must say from what your original mission was there I did not expect you to be bringing a prisoner back with you, I'm assuming you have a very good reason for this?"

Morven gave a sharp nod before explaining, "well General this is no ordinary member of the White Fang, this right here is Fenrir Argyros, alias the White Beast. After delivering the arm to miss Xiao-Long like you asked, Winter and myself were making our way back to the town we landed in when we ran into Mr. Argyros here, he was being attacked by his brother Caius Argyros alias the White Devil. After scaring him off I decided to tend his wounds and then bring him back to Atlas for questioning, I'm sure with as cooperative as he has been with me he may be willing to share information about who was really behind the fall of Vale," Morven replied as he shook Ironwoods hand.

Seeing Morven had finally exited the airship with Fenrir, Winter and Yang came to join them, the female Specialist shooting a respectful nod at the General before saying, "General we have also brought along one of the Huntresses in training from Vale a survivor of the attack on Beacon, I'm sure you remember Ms. Xiao-Long," Winter said gesturing for Yang to step forward.

"Yes I remember Ms. Xiao-Long, I remember that at the end of her last fight we now know that you were baited and then framed by one of our now revealed enemies, Emerald Sustrai," Ironwood said giving Yang a sympathetic look before turning back to his two Specialists, the expression on his face indicating he was deep in thought as he looked over the group again before finally coming to a rest upon Fenrir.

"Oh yeah now that you mention it, I remember a person named Emerald, always hanging around someone named Mercury, but if not she would act like a little lap dog for the so called Queen," Fenrir chirped looking the General dead in the eye before stealing a glance at Yang, who climbed onto her bike waiting for something.

"Hmm well I assume by Mercury you mean Mercury Black, so there's another name we can add to the watch list Morven," Ironwood asked looking past Fenrir at Morven who responded with, "right away General," waiting for whatever orders he was given next as several vehicles rolled onto the landing zone, one of which bearing the Schnee family emblem pulling up besides them.

"It seems my ride is here, Gentlemen, General," Winter nodded before she waved Yang over telling her to follow them to the Schnee estate, and getting into the vehicle they took off while Morven loaded Fenrir into a separate one with several guards as escorts, before closing the door he laid a hand on Fenrir's shoulder and said in a low voice, "I can't promise you that others will treat you with the same dignity that I have but know this, just like how not all Faunus are bad, the same is with humans." With that he released Fenrir and closed the vehicle door heading to the other with the General as they made their way to Atlas HQ, the rising sun signifying the start of a new day.

 **Several hours later at Atlas HQ**

"So that's your plan with the White Beast, Morven I have absolute trust and faith in you to carry out your duties as a Specialist but…" Ironwood stopped pacing in his office and turned to one of his most trusted Hunters and sighed, "Morven I doubt even the Council will agree with allowing you to deal with your prisoner, just listening to it now I barely am agreeing to it."

"I know sir, it's just that I feel that this kid was placed in this situation by forces out of his control and he's not really to blame," Morven reasoned still leaning back against the bookshelf in Ironwood's study looking at his commanding officer with a thoughtful expression, he could see what the General was inferring by bringing up the council but knew that he couldn't throw the kid to the wolves of the Council, pausing for a second Morven finally replied, "then I'll become his ward and take full responsibility for the kid, since I also managed to convince Yang to return with us that'll make a full four-man team, with both Winter and I looking after him, and Yang being there to help with his transition I don't think the Council would argue with that, I'm even going to speak with my grandfather about this."

"Hmmm," Ironwood sighed to himself resuming his pacing for a minute before nodding, "that might help, but then there's the fact of if he doesn't cooperate with us, I'm talking about right now with giving us any up to date information on the White Fang and whoever else is working to destroy the Kingdoms, if he surrenders whatever information he has easily then you'll be more likely to have the Council to allow your request, at least that's the way I see it, but you don't have to worry about me Morven I will already back you up with this."

"Thank you sir," Morven said shooting Ironwood a grateful smile before his scroll began buzzing, pulling it out and apologizing to the General he answered it to find it was Winter calling him from the Schnee estate saying, "Morven I'm settling Yang in right now to one of the extra rooms in our estate, she wanted me to ask you though if you plan on taking her to the medical division for her arm, if not today then maybe sometime soon if you are free," even hearing her through the scroll Morven could hear a slightly irritated edge to her voice and shook his head and sighed, "alright Winter I'll head over to the estate possibly tomorrow, I have to speak with my grandfather now that my meeting with the General is wrapping up, tell Yang that I'll get a hold of her later and we can discuss it then alright."

Saying their goodbyes and shaking hands Ironwood waited till Morven left the room before he sat down, pulling up once again the filed report Morven had typed for him going over again the part that mentioned a possible White Fang encampment near the town of Mirfield and paused, trying to recall the area before shrugging it off thinking to himself, _"that operation sounds too small for the leaders of the White Fang to be located there, I'll have to order my men to widen the search from Beacon area once we retake the Kingdom, I will not allow these criminals to get away with what they've done."_

 **At the Schnee estate**

"Yang it's really good to see you again, especially now that you're back in the fight," Weiss said hugging her old teammate before pausing and looking around and realizing that Ruby was nowhere in sight, turning back to Yang, the questioning look on her face answered when Yang told her, "Ruby left a couple months ago with Jaune, Ren, and Nora, no one has seen or heard from them since, but the note she left said they were going to find Cinder and avenge Pyrrha." At the mention of their deceased friend both girls fell silent and broke eye contact as Winter walked back in foyer with a older gentleman and a young boy both of whom had the iconic Schnee white hair.

"There you are Yang, I see my sister has been showing you around the estate, what do you think so far?" The man behind Winter cleared his throat and an annoyed look flashed across Winter's face before she continued, "Yang this is my father Jacque Schnee, current head of the Schnee Dust Company, and this is my younger brother Whitley, they both wanted to come down and welcome you since our father is being gracious and letting you stay here," there was an almost imperceptible glare of irritation from Winter as Jacque moved passed her and took Yang's hand, looking into her lilac eyes with cold blue ones he gave her a smile that for some reason sent a shiver down her spine.

"Welcome Yang I do hope you enjoy your time here with us," Jacque said shaking her hand lightly, the smallest look of distaste in his eyes as he stared at her arm before releasing it looking back into her eyes, "if you require anything at all Klein will be more then happy to get you it," releasing her hand Jacque walked away noticeably lightening the mood and the tension of the room.

"And I am Whitely Schnee," another voice came bringing Yang's attention back to the young man standing before her, a sense of arrogance in the air about him as he looked at her, gently taking her hand before continuing, "you know Yang our family is having a concert and a ball in tribute of what happened to Vale, and I'd be honored if you would accompany me as my guest to my dear sister Weiss's concert," Whitely shot his sister a smug look before looking back to Yang expectantly.

Realizing that he was waiting for an answer, Yang answered in a friendly tone, "I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to have to say no thanks, don't get me wrong it's not you it's just that I'm not looking to go to a fancy party, besides you're my teammates brother so It'd be a little awkward."

The smug look on Whitley's face turned sour as a stifled laugh escaped Weiss, turning to shoot her a dark look he scoffed and muttered under his breath, "oh you can bet that this won't be the last time we meet Yang, I'll have you I promise you that." With a huff the young Schnee left and Yang gave Weiss a confused look.

"Did I say something wrong," Yang asked her teammate, hoping that she did not offend her brother in anyway by declining his offer, the Heiress just looked with small smile before answering, "Don't worry he is just not used to being turned down before, if I could guess I'd imagine he'd never been rejected before, in any case I'm just glad you're here Yang, I could really use a friendly face right now."

A small smile appeared on the blonde brawlers face, as she placed her hand on her friend's shoulder before saying, "the feeling is mutual Ice Queen, I'm still trying to comprehend everything that has happened these last few months sometimes I think it's all a bad dream and we will wake up in beacon, talk about wishful thinking huh," Yang said chuckling slightly before noticing the sad expression that Weiss seemed to be hiding. Taking on a more serious tone she asked, "so has it been that bad for you here Weiss? I can guess Winter hasn't been around much since her and Morven we assigned a mission and…"

"Wait Morven came back with my sister?" Weiss almost shouted interrupting Yang, "so he's back here in Atlas," the excitement in Weiss's voice obvious as she looked at Winter for confirmation with a hopeful look on her face.

"I know it's been awhile Weiss since you've seen him but Morven is busy right now, while we were in Vale we picked up a bit of a nuisance that he's dealing with at the moment," Weiss noticed the annoyance in her sister's voice at the mention of a nuisance and looked at Yang quizzically waiting for an answer.

"By nuisance your sister means they captured a member of the White Fang," Yang explained shocking Weiss, "Winter give him a chance he must have had a reason for joining the White Fang, we shouldn't just judge him just for being a Faunus and Morven did say that he wants to help him," giving Winter a stern look before looking back at Weiss.

"Was this member a part of the attack on Beacon," Weiss asked with a harsh tone, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Yang, "was this one of the animals that played a part in destroying our school and hurting you and Blake?"

Yang pursed her lips and thought to herself before answering saying, "Fenrir claimed that he wasn't at beacon during the attack, rather that he was with another group that was dealing with a group of those large mechs to be delivered, also what would he have to gain from lying to us!" Yang said giving a stern look to both Schnee sisters while keeping her arms crossed.

"Well if he was lying we'll find out, our interrogator back at HQ is very effective so we'll learn everything he knows soon enough, in the meantime Yang would you like to continue your tour of our estate?" Winter asked changing her tone, "I have the feeling that you'll really enjoy our garden, that's where our mother spends her time so you'll be able to meet her when we get there.

"Sure it will be a good change of pace," Yang said as they resumed their tour of the Mansion, the further along they got she had to admit that the mansion was the most beautiful place she had ever seen, the gorgeous Grimm statues that decorated the house as well as the many one of a kind pieces of art only impressed her more as they made their way to the garden, still her thoughts couldn't help but drift to the young wolf Faunus she had met, not doubting Morven's words that he would be taken care of, but rather if there were those who would do whatever in their power to harm him.

 **Meanwhile back at Atlas HQ**

Fenrir sat alone in one of the many detention cells located below the Atlas HQ with an angry expression on his face, Morven had informed him that he had to report to the Council in regards his mission and left telling him that he'd return later saying he wished to speak with him about something important. Sighing heavily Fen looked around the the room and noticed a security camera on the wall, no doubt allowing the guards to keep an eye on him. " _Great not only am I captured by these asshole humans, now they have me in this goddamn cell playing the waiting game,"_ he thought to himself angrily shooting the camera a glare before flipping whoever was behind the camera the bird, _"I guess they are trying to break me but they are in for a big surprise, if they think I'm just going to roll over and beg then they have another thing coming."_

Shifting around and feeling his pockets Fen realized that something missing, to his shock his picture was missing, out of all the the things left in his possession, out of the all things he held dear, only things that he cared about more than life itself was that picture and the scarf around his neck, " _oh this is just fucken-tastic now I lost my picture!" he thought_ angrily as he frantically looked through his coat pockets only to find nothing, but his panic was quickly cut short as he heard the door to his cell suddenly open.

"So you're the one they called the White Beast huh, I must say I'm kinda disappointed, I expected you to be a bit bigger and older but you're just a kid," a monster of a man growled striding into Fenrir's cell, he was at least a full head taller than Fenrir, and his broad shoulders almost brushed either side of the cell door as he walked in, looking down at Fenrir with the disgusted look he was used to getting from most humans.

"Holy shit you're tall, you know big guy if I didn't know any better I would say might be built like a Mountain by the way you look, all your missing now is a set of armor and a fucked up face," Fenrir mocked as be he sent a glare of his own to this man, who no doubt had dark plans for him.

"Well aren't you the talkative one, now I'm really looking forward to this," the man growled again his voice for some reason filling Fenrir with a sense of dread as the man's disgusting yellow eyes met his. "My name is Lore Black and I'll be in charge of your incarceration for what little time you have left in Atlas, so if you need anything, please hesitate before asking."

Fenrir looked at the mountain of a man with a mix of fear and hate, under normal circumstances he would continue making snide remarks, but by looking at this man it's safe to assume that he has tortured many people before, "you don't need to sugarcoat it, by interrogation you mean torture and I can tell by just looking at you that you enjoy inflicting pain on people, you might as well be as monstrous as the Grimm."

"Oh I would never hurt another human being, just the idea of doing that brings a sour taste to my mouth," Lore chuckled feigning hurt before his expression darkened and he snapped, "but when it comes to inflicting pain on you dirty animals there's nothing I love more, you Faunus are a plague and I personally think that you should all be slaves or just put down like the animals you are."

Fenrir shot the man a hateful glare while tightening his hand into a fist, "You know it's assholes like you that make glad that I joined the White Fang," Fen yelled at the man, if there was one thing he hated more than Grimm, it was the humans that compare his kin to animals and this man was no different.

"Ahh yes the White Fang," Lore's voice had a mocking tone to it as he stepped closer to Fen, looking at him with a sick grin, "your little organization has given me plenty of practice to perfect the art behind my semblance, one that I use in this line of work and that you will become very familiar with soon enough," the ominous meaning behind his words puzzling Fen as he noticed it started to become hard to breath.

Fen began to panic as he felt the air grow thin, as if something was sucking the air from around him, _"what the fuck is going on why is it so hard to breath, it's like there is no air in my in the area is this a semblance?"_ losing his balance Fenrir fell to the floor blacking out while Lore looked at him, the evil smile on his face being the last thing Fen saw as he thought desperately, _"Morven please… help me…"_

 **At the Council's Tower**

"And that's the conclusion I've come to sir," Morven finished watching the old man from across him set down his report and rub his temples, the normally tired expression on his face now replaced with one of deep thought as he looked at Morven. The information he had gathered all pointing to the fact that the main forces of the White Fang were pulled out of Vale already, their chances for capturing the leaders out of their grasp meaning another frustrating loss for their military.

After a moment of silence the old man nodded and and then asked, "so what about this prisoner your report mentions, this White Beast of the White Fang. Do you really believe that he will cooperate with you despite his history of bloodshed? This record of his crimes seems to indicate that he is just as likely to continue fighting."

"Before I answer, can we please keep this conversation off record right now sir," Morven asked standing up and moving over to the window, his almost nervous demeanor intriguing the old councilor who nodded and gestured for Morven to continue.

"This young man was about to be slain by his own flesh and blood brother for trying to help a pregnant mother and her sons get to safety, an act unheard of coming from the recent White Fang," Morven explained looking out over the shining city, "then there's the cooperation he has shown me since I took him in, given the prime opportunities he possibly had to escape, Fenrir Argyros remained in our custody and since then hasn't caused an incident."

"Have you considered perhaps he's waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, here he's capable of delivering a crippling blow in our military chain of command? Here he is in the center or our territory now, with the council or even the General within striking distance," the old man reasoned taking a sip of his water before releasing a tired sigh, wincing slightly in his old age as he moved.

"Are you feeling alright grandfather," Morven asked returning to the desk refilling his elders glass of water before taking his seat before him again.

"Morven, every time I see you it makes me proud to know, that I have such a kind hearted grandson," he said a smile coming across his old and weathered face before turning serious. "You need to be careful though, I know that your esthetics and code are what you live by, but as our history shows many of the males in our bloodline have died defending their esthetics, but I for one don't want to see you fall to the same fate."

Morven paused for a second thinking over his grandfather's word very carefully before replying, "if I don't die defending my beliefs, then what's the point of having them? To die for something worth fighting for is honorable, is it not?"

"But needlessly throwing your life away is pointless as well," Morvens grandfather snapped back raising his voice as he stood up suddenly, looking down at his grandson who didn't even flinch. The two of them held their stares for a minute that seemed like an eternity, eventually he old man broke his gaze and scoffed chuckling under his breath, "it seems the line of knights in our family hasn't quite disappeared yet, very well Morven, you have my support for your case of the young Faunus, just be sure that the two of you do not waver from this path. For now both of your fates are intertwined in this end of an age."

With that he waved Morven away and turned his chair around to look out the Window, Morven bowed respectfully and left without another word, his mind already focusing on his next objective, winning over the rest of the council and getting Fenrir his freedom. _"He may have been on the wrong path, but it's not too late for him,"_ Morven thought riding the elevator down pondering his options, his hand unconsciously drifting to the photo he picked up of Fenrir and his family, Morven felt his resolve strengthen as he exited the elevator, in his heart knowing that he was doing the right thing, and hoping that in the end others would be able to see that.

 **AN:** Hey guys your boy Keeper here I've hoped you enjoyed this chapter, Now I know Fenrir's being treated badly but don't worry he will have his time to shine soon, if you enjoyed this chapter please leave a review and if you have any suggestions on how me and TheBoredBoot can improve our skills please PM us or leave it in the review.

The next chapter will probably be out soon so with that said this is Keeper of the One Winged Angel logging out (fades away).


	3. Chapter 3

At The Edge Of Darkness

Made possible by the joint efforts of Keeper Of The One Winged Angel and TheBoredBoot

AN: Hey everyone TheBoredBoot here bringing another chapter to you patient readers. As usual we couldn't have completed this without our trusted Beta OS Worldmakers, a big thank you and shout out to that swell guy. As usual RWBY and it's characters are owned by Rooster Teeth besides the several OC characters created by my partner and I. I hope you guys continue to enjoy and follow our story, and we'll continue to do our best writing more chapters.

Enjoy

Chapter 3

 **Beneath the Atlas HQ in the interrogation chamber**

Lore Black stood over an unconscious Fenrir once again. His annoyance that he had pushed the Faunus too far and rendered his plaything unconscious was finally starting to get to him.

So he roughly grabbed the unconscious young Faunus and hoisted his limp form up into the air.

"Alright you little shit! It's time to wake up again," Lore snarled, shaking Fenrir awake before slamming him back into the old metal chair that sat in the middle of the room. The young Faunus awoke with a shout of pain as Lore hissed, "I have more questions that I'd like you to answer, so it would be in your best interest to cooperate with me. Now where is the location of the main White Fang forces? That includes the masterminds behind the attack on Vale and Beacon Academy."

Fenrir, bleeding from his cut lip, struggled to sit up only to receive another heavy cuff across the face that knocked him out of the chair. The pain of almost nonstop torture since Lore had arrived that morning, combined with the mental exhaustion of recents events made him just want to cry and give up. _"No,"_ he thought angrily to himself glaring back at his tormentor from the ground. _"If I give in now, everything I've been through will have been for nothing. I can't give in. I won't give in."_

Lore, seeing the defiance in Fenrir's eyes, smiled evilly, his eyes almost lightning up as he triggered his semblance again. He watched the boy attempt to breath, only for the Faunus to find that there was nothing to fill his lungs with. The panic on his face drew a hearty laugh out of Lore who then said, "Well at least you have a little more fight in you. I was afraid I'd get bored with you, but now I need answers, so the kiddy gloves are coming off."

Fenrir, still panicking from being unable to breath, felt a sense unparalleled fear as he watched Lore reach behind him, off a table he had no idea was there. Lore was holding a strange looking instrument that at first he thought was just a dagger, but with a closer look was more of a sort of cattle prod. There was a click and the device in Lore's hand began to hum and the needle like apertures on it began to glow red.

"Now this is where the fun really begins for me, you White Fang dog."

 **At the same time outside the Schnee Manor**

Morven Kenrich walked to the large wrought iron gate before the Schnee manor. He approached the intercom and pressed the button.

A cheerful voice came back. "Ahhh. Hello again, Master Morven. The gate is now open and you are expected inside by Miss Schnee's ." The gate opened silently beside him. Looking up into where he knew the security camera was, Morven asked, "Wait, Klein. Why does Willow wish to speak with me?"

Morven heard Klein laugh merrily through the intercom before replying, "Oh she's not the one I meant who's as excited to see you. Now come inside, and you will find everyone is in the front grand hall right now awaiting your arrival, including Mr. Schnee. Who has a favor to ask of you."

" _Hmmm... Jacque want to speak with me as well. I wonder what he needs from me,"_ Morven thought to himself as he moved towards the front door, his hand barely grazing the knob when the door burst open and he was tackled to the ground by a white blur.

"Morven! It's so good to see you again!" Weiss cried out, hugging Morven around the waist as she sat atop him. "It's been far too long since we've seen each other! Well... since you didn't come to the Vytal festival..." Weiss said, her voice taking an accusing tone as she looked up at him.

"It's certainly good to see you to Weiss. I'm sorry I wasn't able to come see your fight and visit you in person, but I did catch the end of it. That was a gutsy move, taking Flynn down into that vent, though a shame it didn't work," Morven said, with a smile climbing back to his feet before bringing the young heiress into another hug.

"Ahh, Morven. It's good to see you're back," a man's voice said grabbing his attention. Releasing Weiss and turning around, Morven smiled as he shook Jacques's hand, saying, "It's good to see you too and thank you again Mr. Schnee, for your hospitality."

"Nonsense Morven," Jacque said clapping Morven on the back, a feat for him since Morven was a good couple inches taller. "You know we don't need the formalities, Morven. After all, we are all hoping that we can do more then just consider you family soon enough."

Hearing this, Winter's face suddenly went beet red, while Weiss just smirked at her sister, the youngest of the Schnee's, Whitely just rolled his eyes at this and gave Morven a half hearted, "Welcome back, Morven," to which Morven replied, "Hello Whitely. You've certainly gotten taller since I last saw you."

Yang stood a little awkwardly during all this beside Klein, who gave her a friendly smile. "In case you were wondering Ms. Xiao-long," he explained as he noted the confusion on her face, "the Kenrich family has been a friend and partner to the Schnee's since the before the first Great War. Due to complications of male heirs in the past, there hasn't been a chance for the two families to join via a marriage between heirs, but since Winter's youth and her spending so much time with Morven when they were younger, it was a hope that with them both being the heirs to their families legacy that the Kenrich and the Schnee families would become one."

"It was a hope," Yang asked looking from Klein back to Morven and Winter, despite him being in a conversation with them all Yang could see that he only had eyes for Winter. Pausing for a second she then asked, "so what happened that the families didn't join together?"

"Because both of them declined inheriting their family businesses, they gave up the title of heir which thus now falls to their siblings, although…" Klein met Yang's violet eyes with now green eyes as he said in a low voice, "everyone still wishes to see the two of them married, myself included."

"Hmmm I see," Yang muttered quietly to herself looking at the gathered people, Morven now kissing Ms. Schnee's hand as she greeted him, her cheeks flushing red just like her eldest daughter as she giggled, "Winter is certainly lucky to have someone like him always there for her, don't you think?"

Klein gave Yang a smile and replied, "oh I believe that there is someone like that for everyone. When I was young and I asked my father about love he told me this, he said son. True love is the soul's recognition of its counterpart in another, the acceptance that fate brought the two together."

Yang pondered this looking back at the Morven and the Schnee's before letting a small smile cross her face, _"Klein has the right idea I guess,"_ she thought to herself moving over to Morven to get his attention, _"I just wonder who fate has in store for me."_

Feeling a tug on his sleeve Morven turned around and found to his surprise that it was Yang who was trying to get his attention. "What can I help you with Yang," he asked flashing her a friendly smile excusing himself from his conversation and taking her to the side to listen.

"Hey Morven, back when we were on the ship arriving here that woman Eve said there was something we could do to my arm to make it less noticeable, she mentioned that the lab at headquarters would do it if you took me," Yang explained unconsciously brushing her prosthetic.

"Hmmm I see," Morven said quietly himself looking Yang over before returning his gazed back to her eyes. "Well I was just coming to check up on how you were being accommodated here before I went home to see my family, but tomorrow when I head to the facility for acclimating my lightning resistance further, I'll be sure to drop you off at the medical department for the procedure if you are absolutely sure that that is what you want."

"That sounds like a plan Morven, 6 o'clock on the dot you'll come get me?" Yang cracked returning his smile making Morven chuckle in response. "Yes Yang, I'm glad to see you've caught on quickly that we operate pretty early around here, but don't worry. We get time off to relax every now and then, so just roll with the punches and everything will go smoothly, after all you have my word Yang that as long as you're on a team with me I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, the same as anyone else on my team."

Yang taken back by his declaration blushed slightly and began fidgeting under his gaze before muttering a quiet thank you, giving Morven a nod of understanding. "So now what are you going to do now that you've checked up on me? Are you going to see how that Fen is doing," Yang asked watching for any sort of reaction from him.

Morven pursed his lips and thought for a moment before replying, "well I was told he was to be questioned before his trial tomorrow, so before my acclimation training and dropping you off, I'll go and prepare him for his trial. Speaking of his trial Yang I was meaning to ask you, would you like to attend? Just mainly as a formality of course seeing as such that if my request is approved the two of you will be working together."

"Wait what?" Yang asked looking perplexed before remembering the conversation she overheard, something about Morven wanting to make a team to help deal with the increase in the White Fang and the Grimm.

"I'm sure you may have picked up on it Yang, but I want to form a team," Morven pressed on continuing to stare at her. "It's a special team that hopefully can help deal with the rising crisis across Remnant, I know you were still on the fence about it so I hope that knowing I want him on the team as well won't completely change your mind, I mean from what I've seen on record, and from what you've told me. This wouldn't be the first time that you've been on a team with a ex member of the White Fang."

Hearing this, Yang suddenly tensed up and pursed her lips, before she could stop herself she muttered coldly, "wow look at you, Mr. know-it-all. I'd actually appreciate it if you weren't digging into my life so much, it's making me a little uncomfortable. After all I don't know that much about you yet some how convinced myself to come along with you. Sigh… I just am still trying to wrap my head around everything that's happened, you know I was kind of hoping to have a fairly calm time at Beacon with my sister. Calm meaning not fighting terrorists and almost getting involved in a war," Yang said taking a deep breath and sighing.

"I see," Morven replied giving Yang a nod of understanding, "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable Yang, I'll try and keep that in mind for future reference." Hearing his name called again Morven gave Yang another friendly smile and returned to his conversation with the gathered Schnee's.

Going back to watching everyone else talk Yang realized that Weiss had broke away from everyone else and was beside her, a nervous look on her face as she asked, "so how's your arm Yang? I didn't want to be rude and immediately ask about it but I'm really curious about it."

Blushing slightly out of embarrassment Yang held out her arm and watched as Weiss nervously reached out and touched the prosthetic, the almost silent sound of the interior mechanics humming as Yang moved, drawing a impressed gasp from Weiss as she admired the fine craftsmanship of the arm. "This is definitely some impressive Atlas technology," Weiss said awestruck by how close to her regular arm the prosthetic was, "does it feel any different from your actual arm or can you not even tell anymore Yang?"

Yang looked down at the arm and bit her lip before replying, "it's weird to say but I think I'm still experiencing that ghost sensation of my old arm Weiss, I can't feel you touching my arm or anything but there is some sort of sensation that I can't put into words right now. I do however want to cover it up that way I don't get so much attention, I don't want this arm to be the reason people look at me."

Weiss gave Yang a grin and gently bopped her on the arm chuckling, "trust me Yang, the arm might get you some looks but you have other reasons for guys to stare at you." Her tone at this bordering disapproval and amusement as Yang laughed quietly at this. Hearing the conversation begin to wrap up between the Schnee's and Morven Yang and Weiss rejoined the conversation and bid Morven goodbye, as he prepared to leave rushing in to give Morven one last hug Yang watched as Weiss gestured Morven to come down a bit and whispered in his ear for a second before releasing him.

"Hmm alright fine Weiss I promise, although you might have to get in line when we get around to that since there's some new blood for me to test as well," Morven said giving Yang a knowing nod. "I'm calling it a night but tomorrow, you know the time I'll be by to pick you up and we can start this glorious adventure."

"But Morven wouldn't you like to stay for dinner," "yes you and Winter just returned for the first time in months," Mr. and Ms. Schnee said seeing Morven prepare to leave. "We'd love to hear more of your harrowing adventures, something to lighten the mood considering the dark times that have befallen us."

"I honestly would love too and I thank you for the offer, but my family would like to see me as well and after the flight back I need a little time to unwind, I'll need it since I'll be defending a young man at his trial tomorrow so I'll need to be mentally prepared for that." Flashing everyone a smile Morven bid his final goodbyes and left heading home, his relief for finally being able to see his family only dulled slightly by the fact he had an uneasy feeling about Fenrir's treatment.

"I have a bit to do tonight Fen," he said quietly to himself getting into the back of the town-car signaling the driver he was ready, "tomorrow though is the big day, so I hope your ready. This'll be the start of hopefully the right path for you."

 **Early the Next Day**

"You know I'm somewhat impressed you've held it somewhat together for this long Mr. Argyros," Lore chuckled pulling Fenrir by his hair, smiling evilly before throwing a low punch into the young Faunus's stomach, the force of it causing him to cry out and drop out of the chair. "Are you finally going to tell me what we want to know or are you going to continue just cry there like a lost pup," the enjoyment in his voice sending another fearful shiver down Fenrir's spine.

Choking back tears of pain and exhaustion Fenrir looked down at the ground avoiding Lores eyes. "I already told you everything I know, It's not like I was one of the White Fang leaders," he whimpered flinching as he heard his torturer reach for something before stammering, "at most I was just a raid Lieutenant during some of our battles, I swear I don't know anything else."

A dark smile came across Lores face, setting down the tool he picked up he suddenly reached down again and wrapped a large hand around Fenrir's throat hoisting him to his feet, the hatred in his eyes intensifying as he shouted, "well fuck! If you're not going to be of any help then what's the point of keeping you alive then!" Throwing Fenrir into the wall he began kicking Faunus viciously drawing another cry of pain from the curled up boy.

" _Just kill me already then, I just want it too end,"_ Fenrir thought as he held back tears not wanting to give this man the satisfaction of hearing him beg, he turned his head to the man giving him a unconvincing glare remembering his reason for joining the White Fang. Choking out, "you damn humans. If you wonder why the Faunus hate you this is the reason why, you are more monstrous than the Grimm."

Lore seemed taken aback at this comment and stopped kicking Fenrir, his eyes flashing dangerously again. "I'm monstrous? Oh you stupid stupid animal!" He resumed kicking Fenrir with renewed vigor as he shouted, "I'm not a monster I'm human! You damn beasts walking around amongst us like you're people make me sick, you're disgusting kind wanting to be treated like equals when you're nothing more than sub-human trash! Your kind is meant for nothing more than to serve us!"

Fenrir looked up in horror as Lore took out a large machete with edges that looked like it tasted blood more than once, out of fear he tail went in between his legs as he thought fearfully. " _Dammit this isn't how it was supposed to be, I'm supposed to have my whole life ahead of me but now I'll be dead soon."_ Looking up at the monster in front of him with oddly enough the thought that came to mind was, _"Morven I wish we had met under better circumstances, who knows maybe we could have been friends and for what it's worth thanks for treating me like a person instead of a freak, same goes to you blondie."_

Closing his eyes Fenrir flinched at the sound of the blade coming down when a familiar voice suddenly shouted, "Lore! What the hell do you think you are doing!"

Fenrir looked just in time to see a throwing knife flash across the room. Lore gave an angry grunt as he dropped his machete, his look of hatred now directed at Morven who cooly gazed back at him with those strange brown and gold flecked eyes of his.

"When you were instructed to question the prisoner, at any point in time were you authorized to take such drastic steps like torture and draining his aura?" The disgust in Morven's voice directed at Lore shocked Fenrir as he spotted behind Morven, outside the door the blonde haired boxer from before. From the expression on her face, she was just as shocked to hear Morven upset.

"I was instructed, Morven," Lore spat his name out like an insult, "to get the information out of him, and because he wasn't being cooperative I was forced to take more drastic means of questioning, not that you would understand."

"Are you saying he wasn't cooperating, or are you really just lying and saying that because he gave us all he knows and you just want to hurt him," Morven's voice taking a more sympathetic tone as he looked at Fenrir noticing extensive damage to the young Faunus legs. Kneeling down beside Fenrir Morven laid a consoling hand on his shoulder and said quietly, "I'm sorry Fenrir about this, if I had had even the slightest idea this would happen I would've volunteered to oversee your questioning myself, you did nothing to deserve this and I hope you can forgive me."

Fenrir got to his knees shakily before whimpering, "why don't you tell him how he used his semblance on me to cut off my air or how to him my kind are nothing more than trash that were born to be slaves, bet he didn't bother to bring that up." Looking at Morven with his blood red eyes filled with hope that this man would believe him.

"Why you little shit!" Lore roared snatching up his machete from the ground before lunging at Fenrir swinging. "Now your gonna die!"

Fenrir looked in terror as Lore bore down on him, the massive man one again striking fear into his heart when for the second time a white trench coat moved between him and his attacker.

"That's enough Lore," Morven growled angrily striking the interrogators wrist with a open palm disarming him before grappling the larger man to the ground, "as a senior Specialist I'm placing you under arrest for gross misconduct of a prisoner, illegal interrogation as per the housefall act, and assault of a fellow member of the Atlas workforce."

"Assault of a fellow member? What the hell are you talking about you damn Faunus lover!" Lore roared again struggling at first but then wincing as Morven applied pressure to the arm pinned behind his back.

"Yang can you come here please?" Morven asked ignoring the man he had in a armbar, "it appears that Mr. Argyros is currently unable to walk without assistance right now, if you could do me the favor of helping him I'd appreciate it. I'll deal with Lore so just take him to the medical wing I showed you earlier so we can have him taken care of."

"Umm alright," Yang said nervously stepping around Morven and Lore moving to Fenrir, "are you alright Fen?" she asked helping him get to feet catching him as he fell to his knees, her eyes widening as she gasped seeing the damage to his legs."

"What is it that bad blondie," Fen choked out wincing as he tried to support his weight with his legs before he cried out, "fuck!" Nearly falling face first if it wasn't for Yang who supported him, the concern in her eyes surprising him as she asked him if he was alright again, to which he responded, "to be honest not really, but with you here it's starting to look better already though."

Throwing one of Fenrir's arms over her shoulder Yang turned to Morven and said, "don't worry I'll take him to the medical bay so Eve can fix him up," before walking out of the interrogation room leavening Morven alone with Lore.

Waiting till Yang and Fenrir left Morven turned his gaze to the man he had pinned down, the anger on his normally expressionless face sending a shiver down Lores spine as he turned his head to meet the Specialists eyes. "Alright Lore time to take you in, you have a lot of explaining to do to the General."

Making their way to the med bay Yang continued to support Fenrir, her mind racing once again as she processed the recent events which just unfolded thinking to herself, _"I don't understand any of this, sure he was member of the White Fang but did they have to be this rough on him, I mean Morven looked pretty pissed finding our little wolf friend in that condition, which is even more surprising considering that he's supposed to be a prisoner."_ Sighing to herself she pressed on ignoring the strange looks she was getting from other Atlas workers who were walking around.

Coming to one of the open reception areas Yang froze finding herself and Fen caught under the gaze of one of the many Atlas soldiers on guard, his polished helmet and faceplate gleaming as he approached them with his rifle.

"Halt right there," he said in a commanding tone forcing Yang to stop and look at him. "Where are you taking him?" The guard asked gesturing to the barely conscious Faunus she was supporting, his tone becoming increasingly suspicious, "he looks pretty injured blondie, what happened to him?"

"Well you see…" Yang stammered suddenly realizing she didn't really know what to say, her eyes darting about for someone to help her when they met another familiar set of red eyes. Her heart bursting with relief as she answered rather loudly, "I was actually ordered by Specialist Morven Kenrich to take this young man to Medical Officer Eve, he requires treatment."

Hearing her name and having already spotted Yang, Eve put two and two together and approached them waving away the guard saying, "alright now Mr. you stop harassing these youngsters, as you can see this one has been through quite the ordeal so I need to take care of him right away." Her red eyes looking somewhat sad as she looked at Fenrir's condition, gesturing for Yang to follow her she led them to what at first Yang thought was just a med bay.

Walking in a closer inspection showed there was another large room connected by a door, with an observation window built between the two Yang concluded that it was for some sort of of testing or training room, but for what she had no idea.

"Yang can you be a dear and place your friend on the table by the monitor, we need to remove his coat, shoes and pants before we place him in the tank," Eve said gently getting Yang's attention again, her hands dancing across the keyboard as she entered in the specifics of Fenrir's injuries.

After processing what the older women said Yang's face turned the color of her sister cape. It was no secret that she was a flirt during her time in Signal, but she never went any further then just teasing them. Still as she looked at the young Faunus on the table Yang couldn't help but blush at what she was asked to do, putting aside her embarrassment for the moment she helped the struggling Fenrir remove his shirt, while this happened her eyes were drawn to a good sized claw mark located in the center of his chest. " _So it seems like he's had his fair share of trouble with the Grimm as well," Yang thought, her eyes turning serious. "This makes me wonder why did he join the White Fang, because so far he is completely different from the other members we've encountered in Vale, in fact he almost reminds me of Blake."_

"You know it's rude to stare at someone who is half naked Blondie, especially when said person is sore as hell," Fen said in an exhausted tone as he blushed slightly, the sight of Yang staring at him causing him to feel slightly embarrassed.

"Oh don't be a baby Mr Argyros." Eve chuckled snapping Fenrir attention back to her as she finished typing, "now take off your shoes and pants before climbing into the tank alright, and don't be worried this is just a biotic aura tank to help speed along your recovery, after all you have business to attend to later today isn't that right," Eve said locking her red eyes onto his own.

His face flushing even more, Fenrir gave Eve an embarrassed nod before complying, his tail poofing up in surprise when the tank hissed open awaiting him.

"Yang help him into the tank please that way we can begin," Eve said before answering her scroll that had started ringing. "This is Eve. Oh there you are Morven, yes Fenrir and Yang found me and we are about to start Fenrir's treatment." Eve's face suddenly took on a hard expression as she continued to listen to Morven, nodding quietly.

Yang watched Eve for a second before turning back to Fenrir, "ready to get fixed up little wolf," she said with a smirk as she placed her hand around his shoulder and helped him inside the tank.

Fenrir rolled his eyes at this and begrudgingly accepted her help into the tank, his eyes narrowing slightly, "oh very funny Blondie I bet you're a real hit at the club's," he said sarcastically hiding the thoughts that were running through his mind. Before he could voice anything important Eve called over to him saying, "you're very lucky Mr Argyros, had Lore kept using his semblance on you, you could've ended some crushed lungs or maybe even worse."

Yang gave the Faunus a sympathetic look before turning her attention towards Eve asking, "what do you mean Eve? How bad did the pup get hurt?" sitting down on a nearby chair beside the tank while not talking her gaze off the doctor.

"Well you see dear Lore semblance creates in a small area a airless vacuum, meaning he can choke someone without lifting a finger, this explains why he was assigned as the interrogator, although his methods can be quite extreme they get results. I'm just glad that the young lad is okay, you see Yang not many people in atlas care for the well being of the faunus so they end up treated like workers most of the time," Eve explained with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Fenrir listened to Eve and Yang talk a bit while the tank began to fill with a warm green tinted goo, the feeling of it numbing his body as the level rose. Putting on his respirator mask Fen closed his eyes as the liquid rose over his head and his thoughts once again drifted to the man that saved his life.

" _Why would a Atlas Specialist would risk his job as well as reputation to help a Faunus like me, nevermind the fact that I was in the Fang."_ Pushing those thoughts aside Fen then asked, "so what's going to happen to that douchebag now, I may have been half dead but I remember Morven being extremely pissed off so I hope they lock his ass up for almost killing me!"

Eve nodded at this and replied, "yes Lore will be facing some severe consequences after what he's done, not only torturing you but being foolish enough to attack Morven, what was that fool thinking? Don't worry Fenrir Lore is to be incarcerated and tried for what he's done so you can rest easy."

Fenrir only nodded hoping the interrogator got what he deserved but had doubts that it would happen. Remembering the way Faunus have been treated all over Remnant he only suspected that they were no better, if not treated worse in Atlas. Pushing those thoughts aside for the moment he relaxed as the tank began to heal his injuries.

"Alright Yang," Eve said turning her attention back to blonde," I have a technician on the way to help with the grafting of your arm so just take a seat and be patient for a moment ok."

"Yea no problem," Yang said turning towards the medical bed located on the opposite side of the tank, but as she made her way towards the bed she began to think of something, " _I'm glad that my arm will be somewhat hidden but I have to remember that my real arm is gone and nothing is ever going to change that, maybe Morven could help me get stronger so I can help Ruby and figure out why Blake ran away, I know that horned bastard is somehow linked to it."_

The door to the room opened suddenly snapping Yang out of her thoughts as a handsome young man came striding in, "Eve," he said in a friendly tone smiling at the old woman, "I came as fast as I could when you said I was needed to help install a arm augment for a class-3 prosthetic." The young man then froze looking at Yang in surprise, a blush building up in his cheeks as he said in a surprised tone. "Whoa no way, are your Yang Xiao-Long a huntress from Beacon Academy?"

Yang looked at the young man a bit surprised by his outburst nodded her head in confirmation, "That's me although it's more huntress in training, but if you don't mind me asking how do you know my name, I haven't met any other Atlas locals other than Morven, Winter and Eve."

"Oh geez sorry about that," he said blushing a little harder, "my names Ernest Cobalt and I only know your name from watching the Vytal Festival. I gotta say your duo fight with Weiss Schnee was incredible, I was rooting for you the whole time," he said eagerly causing Yang to Blush and play with her hair.

"Thanks it's nice to know that I have people from other kingdoms cheering me on," Yang said coyly blushing at him, her eyes slowly taking him in. He was very handsome she had to admit, the blue of his eyes matching his name, while his neat and tidy appearance and swept back black hair matched his profession.

Back in the tank Fenrir was able to hear every word and couldn't help feel a twinge of jealousy. " _I don't get it why am feeling like this?"_ Opening his eyes to see the two talking, " _I've barely gotten to know her so why do I care who she talks to, it's not like she's into me anyway. Man I sure wish mom was here, she'd know what to do in this situation,"_ the young Faunus felt a sting in his heart as he thought of his mother, the expression of sadness on his face noticed by Eve.

"Well anyway Yang," Ernest said giving her a smile, "how about I take a look at that arm of yours, I was told you wanted to have a skin graft placed over the metal that way it doesn't draw any attention?" His question causing Yang to pause.

"How long will it take?" Yang said holding onto her arm tightly while avoiding the young man's gaze as if embarrassed, "don't get the wrong idea it's not that I don't trust you, it's just that after the fall of Beacon I've had a hard time dealing with a lot of things, especially if they have to do with my arm."

"The preparation for the graft won't take too long," Ernest said flashing Yang a reassuring smile," It's just that afterwards it'll at least an hour and a half for the graft to set. After that though you'll barely be able to tell unless you already knew of the procedure. Speaking of which, are we ready to get started Eve?"

"That we are Ernest," Eve said, her smile calming Yang's nerves as she laid back down on the table taking a deep breath. Moving beside Ernest, Eve took a strange box like device with a handle and a screen from the table and moved it across Yang's good arm, before moving it over the metal one.

"Hey is she going to be okay? I may not the smartest Faunus in the world but I know when someone is uncomfortable." Fenrir said politely looking at Eve, stealing a glance at Yang spotting the worried expression on her face.

"What the…" Ernest said loudly looking in surprise at the Faunus in the tank, caught completely off guard by him talking. "Where did that guy come from? Has he been in there this whole time? I had no idea."

"Wow pretty boy you just now noticed me, how the hell could you miss this big ass tank in the room or were you just too distracted flirting with blondie to even notice me," FenrIr said sarcastically, looking at the man with a smirk on his face while feeling some of his strength returning to him and noticing the annoyed look on Yang's face.

Ernest returned his smirk and chuckled, "wow your pretty aggressive there poochie although I have no idea why since we've never met, and can you honestly blame me for being distracted by this blonde beauty right here, I mean come on." He shot Yang a wink which she rolled her eyes too trying to hide her blush again before he continued, "as for this hurting she doesn't have to worry at all, this is going to be like a super fancy paintjob for the arm and that's it."

"And with that being said how about we get started on setting hers up now," Eve chipped in putting the device down and gesturing to Ernest, "please input her specs into the processor and we can get started on waiting for the graft to be done." Turning to Yang sme smiled before adding, "Yang deary don't worry, at most you will feel a slight numbing sensation where the seam meets the arm so you'll be fine."

"That's nice to hear I was honestly a little worried about this being painful," Yang said giving a sigh of relief before flinching at the touch of cold metal, a quiet little shriek escaping her lips making Ernest chuckle and her blush again.

"I'm sorry Yang I probably should've also told you that you'll be feeling some cold metal too," Ernest said shrugging sheepishly, "oops my bad beautiful, I'll make sure next time to warm it up for you."

Yang couldn't help but laugh at this as she met his cobalt blue eyes, as he finished entering a series of commands into his scroll the device around her arm began to hum quietly and a green glow could be seen coming from the edges, puzzled at the lack of complexity she turned and asked, "so how does this work exactly Ernest? I mean you scanned my good arm and now my new one is in this box for…?" She left it as an opened ended question.

"Well you see by scanning your good arm we can now make the pigmentation for your prosthetic match," Ernest explained pulling up a chair besides Yang, his eyes for once not on her, but on the red eyed Faunus eyeballing him from the tank. He had now noticed that the Faunus had been glaring at him, and honestly it was starting to get annoying. Opening his mouth Ernest muttered loudly, "you know if you want to stare I suggest you take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Hey, why don't you…" Fen started angrily when he was interrupted by the sound of someone clearing their throat. Turning his head he spotted Morven shaking his head giving him a exasperated look from the doorway before entering the room.

"Cmon you're killing me Mr. Argyros," Morven said calmly moving beside the tank, his strange gold flecked eyes silencing the Faunus as he stared at him. "I can't leave you alone without you starting at a fight can I?" Sighing deeply and closing his eyes Morven sighed and he smiled sadly breaking eye contact with Fenrir muttering quietly, "I'm sorry I let this happen to you Fenrir, I should've taken responsibility of your questioning and prevented this from happening to you."

Fen was taken aback at at his words and looked at the Specialist with surprise, his mind racing. _"Why does he care so much about me,"_ he thought staring at Morven who walked over to Eve after greeting Yang and Ernest. _"I mean twice he's saved me and here he keeps apologizing for what Lore did to me, it just doesn't make any sense."_

"Eve, while Fenrir is recuperating, and Yang is having her arm finished mind if I use the acclimation chamber for a while?" Morven asked gesturing to the large open room next door. "I could use the stress reliever to be honest."

"Acclimation chamber?" Yang mumbled to herself watching Morven. Listening she heard Eve say yes to whatever Morven had asked, stiffening up when she saw him move over to the table beside the opposite door and lay his coat across the table, his hands going and unbuttoning his shirt underneath before removing that too and laying it on the table.

Reaching down and untying his boots Morven stopped and turned his head to find Yang who was staring open mouthed at him, the confusion on her face at the sight of him undressing causing Ernest and Eve to laugh while Morven looked at her with a perplexed look. "Yang," he said quietly standing, the only things left on his body were his pants and his sword sheathed on his hip as he crossed his arms looking back at her asking, "is there something I can help you with?"

"No not at all," Yang stammered tearing her eyes away from him, "I was just wondering what are you doing stripping with us in the room. I mean am I the only one surprised by this?" She asked looking at the others to find that Fen was the only other person with surprise on his face, while Ernest and Eve just looked on in amusement.

"I honestly don't know what's going on either blondie," Fen chipped in also staring at Morven, but unlike Yang who was embarrassed Fen was studying the Specialist as he looked him over. _"Interesting,"_ he thought meeting Morven's eyes again. _"It doesn't look like he has a scratch on him, so either that means all the rumors about him are false and he just relies on his reputation, or he really is that skilled. Doesn't matter, either way I owe him a great deal already, so when the time comes I guess I'll see for myself."_

"Alright Morven system is ready and spinning up now," Eve called out snapping everyone out of their thoughts. The lights in the large room next door began turning on revealing a large metal pedestal in the center, and on either side of it sticking out of the wall were large tesla like apertures that began humming with power as Morven strode into the room heading for the pedestal.

"Wait! What is he…" Yang yelled out realizing that humming noise they were hearing was a massive electrical buildup, but before she could finish Ernest gently took her unoccupied hand and put a finger over his lips.

"Shhhh just watch him, here is where you'll get a glimpse of the reason he's called the Storm Commander," Ernest said, staring in awe at Morven.

Fen in the biotic tank.

Yang on the table with Ernest beside her.

Eve standing by at the control console.

They all watched as the Specialist drew his sword in a single fluid motion closing his eyes.

"Alright Eve, I'm ready."

 **Somewhere below the Sea between Vale and Mistral**

"So you can assure me that traitor is dead Caius," Adam Taurus said coldly glaring at Caius, his hands behind his back as the wolf Faunus bowed his head, the slow rock of the submarine moving lulling him into a sense of calm as they moved to Mistral.

"I cut him deeply before those two Specialists intervened," Caius said emotionlessly raising his head to look at Adam, "it may have been the Storm Commander and that Schnee bitch but I doubt they saved that traitor, I don't care what they say about him being against killing, because if they found the bodies of those kids and their mother do you believe the Schnee would let him live?"

"Maybe not, from what I've heard about the Storm Commander and know from personal experience, he is somewhat of a pacifist only killing if there is no other choice, " Adam sighed rubbing his jaw thoughtfully. "There is a possibility of Fenrir being alive and remember your weapons ability only works on humans so you can't rely on that against him, and knowing my apprentice he's too stubborn to die from just that."

"You should've just taken his head or brought him back so I could Caius," Adams Lieutenant growled smirking at the white wolf, "it's not like you were that much stronger than your little brother anyway, you should've thanked the Specialists for saving your neck."

"This coming from the guy who let a failed to kill a Schnee, don't think I didn't hear about your little screw up at Mt Glenn, maybe Adam should consider where you stand in the pecking order." Caius said smirking as well remembering the mission that the masked Faunus was assign too. "Had I been assigned to that mission the bitches head would have been on a platter and in front of our leader!"

"Both of you be quiet!" Adam snapped silencing the two bickering, "it matters not right now if that traitor is alive or not. If he was taken prisoner we don't have to worry about him sharing any vital information, we need to focus on the task at hand that Cinder has left us, then after those preparations are made we will travel to Menagerie to complete my plan. It's time for the White Fang to return to its birthplace and reclaim dominance from those idealistic fools." An evil smile crossing his face as the room fell silent.

They stood in silence for a moment before Adams Lieutenant finally broke the quiet, "so we are really going to go through with it then? The coup d'état for total control and beginning the next Great War?" He said with a almost hunger in his voice.

"A Great War we will win this time," Adam said his hand falling to a rest on the hilt of his sword, the feel of it in his hand calming and clearing his mind as he turned back to Caius again. "You understand your task correct?"

"I do, although I requested to be a part of the attack planned in Atlas," Caius said crossing his arms angrily a chance to kill a Schnee isn't something I'd like to pass up, especially in their own home too."

"I doubt you'd be able to pull it off Caius," the Lieutenant said darkly glaring at Caius from behind his mask, "the security will be tight and this infiltration will require tact, hence the reason why myself, our leader's most trusted warrior am not leading it either for I at least know I don't have the subtlety to pull this off. Besides the fact I'm too big to hide and be discreet."

Before Caius could fire back and start another argument Adam growled, "my decision was already made, and my decision remains unchanged. While she's not one of my senior Lieutenants, I believe she can lead the attack and crash that party. But…" Adam stopped and looked at the two men, "if she fails she is more expendable than the two of you, so keep that in mind. Now both of you are dismissed, I have other matters to attend too.

Shooting one last dirty look at each other the two nodded their heads respectfully to Adam and left his chamber, both of them eager to get to their ordered task and further the goal of the White Fang.

 **Meanwhile back in Atlas an hour later**

Yang stood and looked down at her arm in wonder, besides an almost invisible scar seam her arm now looked completely normal. Turning and smiling at Ernest and Eve, Yang with tears of happiness in her eyes choked out a thank you giving first Eve then Ernest a nervous hug.

"Oh it's no problem deary," Eve said like a cheerful grandmother hugging Yang back, "it's our job to help, I'm just sorry we had to do this for you in the first place."

"Yeah what Eve said," Ernest laughed nervously hugging Yang back, his face turning red as he felt her bust press against him.

There was a sudden beeping broke them apart and made Eve turn to the tank where Fenrir was, giving him a big smile she said, "well it sounds like you're good to get out of there now Fenrir," entering in the release code.

There was a hiss as the liquid in the tank began to drain and after a minute the tank was empty and opened up. Removing the respirator and climbing out out Fen stood for a moment before a towel hit him in the face.

"Hey use that to dry off alright, we don't want this place smelling like wet dog," Ernest said snidely before more beeping sent him over to the acclimation control panel.

"Talk about convenient," Eve said nodding in approval as the buzz of electricity coming from the room died down, waiting a moment more before the door opened and Morven came out drenched in sweat. "Here you are dear," she said tenderly handing him his towel before inquiring, "do you feel as though you progressed a bit in your training Morven? The data we gathered looks promising that you're gaining better control."

"I believe it is becoming easier Eve, so when I have spare time here I'd like to continue using this system to train," Morven said taking a deep breath before turning to Fenrir. Seeing he was out of the tank he gave the Faunus a nod and approached him stopping a couple feet away.

"Well you certainly look like you've been working hard Morven," Fen said evenly holding the Specialists gaze. To his surprise Morven smiled slightly and nodded beginning to circle him checking his injuries over to which he asked, "so now what?"

Morven didn't answer but continued to walk around looking Fenrir up and down until he was back in front of him, "alright now come with me Mr. Argyros, you have about an hour and a half before your trial but it might be best to wash up first, after all public image can be important in a situation like this."

"Do you honestly think these people care what happens to me? If anything they'll give me death sentence on the spot, but hey maybe pissing off people is one of the fun things in life I get to do, which reminds me." Fenrir said as he turned turning his gaze towards Ernest with a smirk on his face, "so I smell like wet dog huh," cracking his knuckles.

Morven sighed hearing this and muttered quietly, "dammit Fenrir and sorry in advance for this," closing the distance between them with a single step, Morvan brought his hand down swiftly chopping Fenrir between his neck and his shoulder before the Faunus could even utter a sound, falling to his knees before caught. Sighing again Morven threw Fenrir over his shoulder and shot a look of accusation at Ernest before leaving the room.

"What, I was saying it as a joke Morven," Ernest said walking after him only to be told to stay there or find some work to do. Feeling dejected by his idol, he turned back to Yang and asked, "so what's the deal with that Faunus anyway? Why is Morven doing all this for him, who is he?"

Yang shrugged in response as she watched Morven leave carrying Fen out before turning to Eve asking, "so uhhh now what do I do."

Smiling at Yang Eve replied, "well your more then welcome to come with me Yang, I just have to bring you to the trial on time, but we have time enough for a late lunch if you would like."

As if on cue, Yang's stomach growled and she gave an embarrassed little laugh rubbing the back of her head before nodding.

"Hey mind if I tag along ladies?" Ernest asked moving beside Yang smiling, "lunch will be on me."

"I'm sorry," Eve said with a shrug, " you actually have to process Morvens data and then send it to him later, he's about to make a breakthrough, I can feel it. But next time you can take us out for lunch," ushering Yang out of the room.

Not catching what Ernest said at the end, Yang furrowed her brow at the mention of Morven again and the question that Ernest had asked, _"why does he care so much, what was that training I watched and what did Eve mean by make a breakthrough?"_ Still following Eve Yang finally asked, "hey Eve. So what can you tell me exactly about Morven, I mean I only know bits and pieces about him but from what I've seen he gets a lot of respect around here."

"He is certainly something," Eve said in a knowing tone still moving forward, "alright Yang I'll tell you a bit about him, but for some things you'll have to do your own searching or ask him yourself. Now tell me, what are you in the mood for lunch?"

 **Meanwhile in the Atlas locker rooms**

Fenrir awoke to being splashed with ice cold water with a shout and leapt to his feet ready to fight, his eyes darting around only to find Morven stand to the side, an amused half smile on his face as he put the bucket he had dumped on him down before asking in an amused tone, "so you awake and done causing trouble?"

Glaring at Morven, Fenrir rubbed the back of his neck still sore from the chop, "has anyone ever said that you're an asshole, hitting a guy when he's half naked, I wasn't going to hurt that greenhorn now where the hell are we and where are my clothes!" Looking around the Faunus noticed the room looked entirely different from the one that they were previously in,spotting multiple lockers with the Atlas emblem on the doors and what looked to be a shower area.

"Well that was a risk I couldn't take Mr. Argyros, again I apologize, but now I am going to have to ask you to take a quick shower. It's best to wash off all that gel, after awhile it starts to smell and again appearance can play a big part in this. I already washed up after my training while you were unconscious but I'll be right here if you have any questions."

"Alright here's a question why can't I get any privacy," Fenrir snapped glaring at the Specialist who didn't look like he was going to budge an inch before sighing and turning away.

"Mr. Argyros in case you have forgotten, remember that you are currently in custody right now. I know the procedure is unusual but due to circumstances that are out of our control I have decided to take charge of the situation in a manner I see fit, which is why I have to keep you under my watch. Or would you prefer I place you in the regular holding cells till the trial," Morven said in a stern voice not taking his eyes off him.

Fenrir shot Morven a dirty look at this and remained silent for a moment before shrugging and finally giving in. Looking dejected for a moment Fenrir finally asked, alright so what's the plan Stormy," his teasing tone he noticed making the Specialists eyebrow twitch in irritation for a split second before becoming emotionless again.

"Alright first things first, Mr. Argyros. You are guilty that much is is certain, conspiring against the Kingdoms is a serious offense and punishable by death or life incarceration." Morven paused gauging Fenrir's reaction.

"Wow, and this is supposed to make me feel better. Hell of a pep talk coach," Fenrir muttered leaning against the wall crossing his arms.

"Well your choices led you to this," Morven said evenly also crossing his arms, "but I believe that you are meant to do better things Mr. Argyros. Finding you right after you made that life changing decision had to be fate wouldn't you say?"

Fenrir paused and thought about it again, the memory of the faces of that woman and her two sons hurting his chest knowing that his bid to save them ended in their deaths. _"I honestly tried to save them,"_ he reasoned with himself nodding back at Morven. "I had been thinking for awhile that what the White Fang… What we had been doing was wrong, I couldn't just stand by and continue doing what I had been for most of my life."

"And in your attempt to get out they branded you a traitor, your own brother the one sent to kill you. The worst part was he didn't hesitate did he? When I arrived it looked like he already had his fun and was about to end it, wouldn't you say?"

"You have no idea what you're talking about!" Fenrir shouted his eyes tearing up at the memory. "He probably had no choice, they may have threatened to kill him as well so shut the fuck up!"

Morven narrowed his eyes for a moment, a scathing correction on the tip of his tongue before he just just stopped. Seeing the tears building in Fenrir's eyes he sighed heavily and thought of a better approach.

"Listen Fenrir, I'm not dure if you were conscious enough to remember you brothers last words before he retreated, but trust me when I say this. If you… No, when you encounter him again make no doubt that he will be coming for blood. His goal is your demise, but I don't intend on allowing that. That's why I want to trust me."

Fenrir turned away again slamming his fist into the wall, his snow white tail poofing up in anger as he yelled, "well fuck me right. I obviously don't have much of a choice, the only question is what do you get out of this? What does the Storm Commander of Atlas get out of helping desperate old me?"

"You are not in the right state of mind to allow me to help you, Mr. Argyros and honestly we don't have time for this kind of argument. My reasons for helping you are mine alone, but I can swear to you this. My reasons are not to harm you or the Faunus, you could say they are more personal in a sense." Morven sighed again and took a step towards Fenrir, his hand outstretched as he asked. "So what do you say, will you trust me to get you out of this?"

Fenrir glared at Morven again, his fists clenched as if he was going to lash out again and hit the wall or the Specialist. But then he relaxed and slumped in defeat and with his tail drooping he muttered half heartedly, "fine Morven. If you can somehow get me out of this I'll be in your debt."

"Having you in my debt isn't my aim, but I'll take it." Morven said still holding his hand expectantly as Fenrir just stood there looking at him before he added. "A handshake between two men is to show trust, I trust you to an extent now all I ask is for you to trust me."

Grinding his teeth Fenrir looked into Morvens eyes for any hint of deceit but to his surprise only found honest eyes looking back at him. _"He truly wants me to trust him,"_ he thought in amazement finally reaching out and grasping the Specialists hand, returning the handshake. _"Well my fate is in your hands now Morven, I just hope I don't come to regret it."_

"Alright then," Morven said giving Fenrir a nod of approval. "Now please go shower and clean off the rest of the gel from your time in the tank, I'll be here going over our plan for your trial. I have a few people who already know what I believe to be the right line of action to take with you and they agree that it might not only be beneficial to us, but to you as well."

Stepping around the corner to the showers, Fenrir chose one of them and set the water to full didn't even flinch at the heat as he closed his eyes. "Alright Morven. Lay it on me. What's your plan?"

 **One hour later at the Justice Hall**

In the large auditorium all eyes were on Fenrir, from the ten Councilors that sat above him, to the roughly forty others observing the trial. Chained to the center podium with only Morven beside him, Fenrir could feel the tension in the room rising, the muttering of the crowd almost like a roar in his ears as he felt a nervous tension begin to build up.

From above he saw the man who he assumed to be the head Councilor raise his hand and all the noise ceased as he addressed Fenrir.

"Fenrir Argyros. Alias the White Beast. Classification, raid Lieutenant in the White Fang. You have been brought before the Council of Atlas to be tried for multiple counts of conspiracy against the Kingdoms, murder, manslaughter, espionage, the destruction of Government property, and vandalism.

Hearing the last allegation, Fenrir couldn't help but let a smirk escape across his face while Morven groaned massaging his temples.

"What are you smiling about," one of the Councilors growled spotting the smirk on Fenrir's face. "You think this is amusing boy?"

" _I honestly think this is fucking hilarious."_ Fen thought, losing the smirk on his face as he felt the disapproval emanating from Morven and sighed. Swallowing his pride he bowed his head addressing the head Councilor. "Your honor, I'm sorry for the disrespect. It's just the last allegation compared to the others seems a little, ridiculous if I may say."

"Ridiculous yes," another Councilor chimed in crossing his arms staring at Fenrir. "But it is still a crime to tag the symbol of your organization on Government property. With all of these allegations how do you plead?"

Gritting his teeth taking a deep breath, Fenrir looked at each of the Councilors, before growling, "I plead guilty but request rehabilitation."

"Preposterous!" A Councilor roared immediately getting to his feet glaring down at Fenrir.

"I agree," another hissed, her blue eyes narrowing. "For you to even consider that you'd need a sponsor, and even then it would need to be an influential member or someone of upstanding nature, and for someone to do that for a monster like you is unheard of."

"Well consider it heard of now your honor," Morven said tersely moving between Fenrir and the Council, the young man giving him a grateful look. "I request to be his sponsor, I'm sure I meet all the criteria for the job."

"Morven!?" Multiple Councilors cried out in varying degrees of surprise staring at him, while others nodded thoughtfully considering the factors at play.

" _From the capture report Morven is the one who brought him in, and stated in the report he did mention how cooperative Fenrir was being with him during his questioning."_ She narrowed her eyes and met Morven's gaze searching for an ulterior motive as the other members discussed amongst themselves.

Fenrir, feeling someone's gaze focusing on him turned his head and locked eyes with Ironwood. The General just stared at him, his gaze neither hateful nor vindictive, rather it seemed to say. _"Morven is sticking his neck out for you, so you better prove yourself."_

"Specialist Morven Kenrich, you know by accepting this that you be placed responsible for his actions and suffer the same consequences for his actions." The room fell silent and all eyes went to Morven as the head Councilor got to his feet, raising his hand to get everyone's attention.

"I understand this, and to help I'd like to request as a way to help integrate him, the creation of a team for I believe that would help him understand our side of the conflict between the Government and the White Fang." Morven said looking at the Council with a serious expression.

"If this is the case do you Morven Kenrich, swear to continue upholding the laws and justice of the Kingdom of Atlas? To instruct this misguided young Faunus in ways to benefit and help protect the Kingdom in this time of strife and tribulation? And to if you fail, to remove the threat to the Kingdom and then accept your own punishment without resistance."

"I swear," Morven replied not even hesitating. "I will do everything in my power to help him find the right path."

"You're a fool Morven!" Another Councilor spat, his hateful expression directed at Fenrir. "He may be young, but he's still a killer. He won't change."

Waiting till his fellow Councilor stopped the head Councilor called out. "Now all in favor of allowing Fenrir Argyros to become a ward of Atlas."

Out of the ten Council members seven raised their hands, some with looks of complete approval on their faces while others had a more wary feel to them. "Fenrir. Do you have anything to say?"

Fenrir looked up, his gaze locking onto the head Councilor releasing a heavy sigh he responded. "Not like I have a choice in the matter," turning to look at Morven who gave him disapproving look but still nodded, and from the corner of his eye he saw Yang who giggled silently knowing full well he was deliberately annoying them."

"Then it's decided," the head Councilor announced loudly silencing the other Councilors. "From this day forth, you are now in the custody of Morven Kenrich. Your decisions from this point on shall affect both of you so don't disgrace yourself or your mentor, case dismissed."

And like that it was over, Fenrir who on the outside seemed somewhat calm was doing everything in his power conceal how badly his legs were shaking in fear. _That was almost it for me,"_ he thought as he was uncuffed from the center podium and ushered towards the far door by Morven. _"If a majority of them didn't agree with his reasoning I would've been executed for sure."_

"Mr. Argyros are you listening?" Morven's said snapping Fenrir out of his thoughts. "We have one last thing to do before we gather your belongings and leave understand?"

"Yea whatever, lets just get this over with. I want to get back to my cell so I can get some sleep, after all this hasn't exactly been an easy day for me remember." Fenrir growled continuing behind Morven who slowed down.

"Back to your cell? He murmured turning to face Fenrir, "what makes you think your going to a cell? You are free to an extent as long as you are under my supervision Mr. Argyros, so you will be staying with me and my family at our estate."

Surprised by this Fenrir stopped and gave the man a suspicious look. "Why would you go so far to help me, in a way you're basically putting your life on the line for me. Something only one other person has done that for me." Morven could hear the sadness in his voice as he spoke but chose to stay quiet until the right moment.

"Mr. Argyros, I hope after all you've been through now you can trust me. My reasons are for the greater good and I want you to know, that oath I swore wasn't just for me." Morven said calmly resting his hand on Fenrir's shoulder, "I will do nothing to cause you harm, I will defend you with my life, and I will make sure that no matter what happens you won't have to fear being betrayed again."

Tearing up slightly Fenrir could only mutter, "good luck with that stormy, no offense but I have no intention of being a knight in shining armor like you and I have my own reasons for being so cooperative. Reasons that stay with me, but I will promise you that I'll stay out of trouble but you best tell any racist pricks, that any dog comment I hear won't end well them. I won't kill them I'll just put them in there place." Crossing his arms as they entered what appeared to be a room with numerous objects. I doubt confiscated from other prisoners ,and out of the corner of his eye he spotted his own personal belongings on a table.

"Sorry love I gotta stop you there for a second," said a familiar voice coming from in front of him, and before he knew better he met the glowing eyes of Eve and felt his body go limp as Morven caught him before he fell.

"Don't worry, this will only take a second and is Council's insurance Mr. Argyros," Morven said reassuringly as two more men came from behind Eve. After a second of them fumbling Fenrir felt the back of his neck go numb and a warm dribble go down his neck.

"All done," the first man said and the two men exited without another word as Fenrir began to have feeling return to his body.

Feeling control return to his body he rubbed the back of his neck before giving the old woman a glare. "You know if you had just asked I would have sat down while you put this godawful leash in on me, I swear lady you must get off at paralyzing me!" Fenrir groaned as he looked at Eve who had the usual warm hearted smile on her face.

"I'm sorry deary it was a precaution, there are a few people who already believe you will betray us," Eve said quietly watching for Fenrir's reaction. "Anyway with the chip in now you are free to go, although Morven will be holding onto your weapons for the moment I'm sure you understand."

"Oh fantastic so my girls are in the hands of a human, just throwing this out there but is it too late to change my sentence," Fenrir said sarcastically eyeballing his weapons for a second.

"Well if you remember our conversation back in Mirfield, you don't have to worry, I'll treat these blades with the same respect that Storm Razor gets," Morven said patting the hilt of his own sword. "Now be sure to grab everything that's yours so we can leave, there should be your scroll, wallet and money, and one more thing I'm forgetting."

Nodding his head Fenrir approached the counter which contained his gear make by sure that everything was accounted for he gave a huge sigh of relief when he saw his scarf, quickly wrapping it around his neck before putting everything else away and followed the Specialist out.

After going through security and exiting the building Morven pulled out his scroll and dialed a number, within minutes a sleek black town car pulled in front of them and the door opened. "After you," Morven said gesturing politely for Fenrir to get into the car.

"That's certainly a nice ride," Fenrir muttered eyeing the car enviously before climbing, his guts and instincts telling him something was off, but couldn't put his finger on it. "So where are we going to now? I don't know about you it I could use a nice long nap after the hell I've been through and maybe a hot shower, that reminds me where is your girlfriend it's shocking not to see her away from you." giving the older man a smirk who only returned a blank stare.

"How bout something even better, like a nice home cooked meal," Morven said trying to put the young Faunus at at ease climbing into the car after him. "And as to where we are going, it's my family home, or better described as the Kenrich family estate."

At the mention of his family name Fenrir brought his hand under his chin into a thinking motion, _"Kenrich, where the hell have I heard that name from, oh now I remember, Adam told me that he got himself injured by someone with the name Kenrich this must be him."_ looking at the specialist with wide eyes he asked, "Tell me Morven have you ever encountered a Faunus going by the name Red Devil before?"

"You're talking about Adam Taurus? Yeah we met once before. He's an incredible swordsman, it's just a shame his judgement is so clouded by hate for the humans," Morven said looking out the window as the car moved through the city heading more to the outskirts. "Why do you ask Mr. Argyros?"

"Well since we're being honest here The Red Devil was my teacher, showing me everything I know" Fenrir answered looking down with a solemn expression on his face, remembering the good times with his former teacher.

"He was your teacher huh, that means you should show some promise then, so I'll be looking forward to seeing that." Morven said nonchalantly as he turned back to Fenrir. Noting the confused look on his face he explained, "so since you are required to be under my supervision it was decided that you will be accompanying me on missions for the Kingdom. So to gauge the difficulty of these missions I am going to put your skills to the test tomorrow."

Fenrir smirked at this, "put my skills to the test? I'm more then willing to see how strong you are though."

"Duly noted," Morven said rolling his eyes finishing up typing a message on his scroll, _"why do I feel as though he is going to be a real handful to deal with, Yang at least seems disciplined enough at least so there is that in my favor, but then there's the future conflicts he's going to have with Winter. I swear having them fight like cats and dogs is going to get old real fast."_

The two of them looked up as the car pulled to a stop and Fenrir couldn't help open his mouth in awe at the sight before him. Behind an impressive stone wall and iron gate was one of the largest houses he had ever seen, not correction one of the largest mansions he had ever seen. As the gate opened and the car entered the area Fenrir saw in the center of the roundabout driveway was a large stone tablet, inscribed on it was the same sword sheathed in a beat up tower shield emblem that was on Morven's trench coat shoulder.

"So this is your home?" Fenrir asked in awe scowling slightly, "must have been nice and easy growing up with that silver spoon." The scorn and envy in his voice completely ignored by Morven.

The car pulled to the front door and waiting there was a lovely woman in a low cut maid-like outfit with long purple hair, hiding slightly behind her they could just barely see a young boy, no older than five or six peeking at them.

Stepping out of the car the boy spotted Morven and ran to him laughing happily. "Morven your back again," he yelled leaping into the Specialists arms.

"Garreth you just saw me this morning," Morven chided gently hugging his youngest brother back before setting him down, a smile on his face which surprised Fenrir before suddenly Morven was face first in a generous amount of cleavage, the maid that was there as well had begun hugging him tightly catching him off guard.

" _Oh man,"_ Fenrir thought to himself feeling a slight nosebleed come on as he watched Morven try to fight his way out. _"Who is this and how can I get the same treatment?"_

"Oh Morven, our hard working Specialist you know I missed you yesterday," the woman said planting a kiss on his cheek before finally letting him go, the normal paleness of his skin now a light shade of red. "Now anyways who's this lost little pup Morven, a friend of yours he seems a little young." She asked leaning forward.

Fenrir blushed bright red as the maid leaned forward giving him a clear view of her cleavage, his tail began to wag at a extremely fast pace making the Faunus blush harder something that did not go unnoticed by the maid, "H-hi my name is Fenrir Argyros is nice to meet someone nice for a change, better than those stuck up goons in Atlas."

"Fenrir huh, that's an interesting name. My name is Lyla Sigal I was the wet nurse for the Kenrich boys growing up so naturally I'm a lot nicer then then most of the people you'll meet out in Atlas, although the whole Kenrich family is very sweet, even Floyd when he's busy with their father working." Lyla said, her musical voice having an almost soothing effect on everyone as her curious amber slitted eyes seemed to laugh.

" _Wait slitted eyes, what the hell."_ Finally tearing his eyes away from her cleavage Fenrir noticed that around her neck was light green scaling that seemed to move over her shoulders. Without even thinking he said in a surprised tone, "wait you're a Faunus?! But I thought…"

"I'll stop you right there sweetie," Lyla said lightly tossing her hair back before crossing her arms. "This whole mindset of all humans hate the Faunus is very mundane, you'll find that if you give them a chance people are a lot more open minded then you give them credit for."

"Lyla as much as I know Mr. Argyros needs to know these things right now probably isn't the time," Morven interjected politely patting his little brother's head who was hiding behind him watching Fenrir. "He has had a long and rough day and tomorrow is going to a struggle for him as well so I'd like to get a hot meal in his stomach and a give him a chance to relax."

Lyla pursed her lips and poured for a second before shrugging her shoulders. "Alright fine Morven you win, conveniently enough dinner is almost done so have your friend get washed up and meet us in the dining hall, I'll make sure an plate is laid out for him."

Fenrir watched her take Garreth's hand and enter the manor leaving him alone with Morven. The two of them standing in silence for a moment until Fenrir muttered quietly, "well I hope everyone else here is as nice as she says." His nose twitching as he finally identified the smell that had bugging him for awhile, something that Lyla had confirmed just from appearing. _"There's at least one other Faunus here, maybe two but the smell is so distorted I can't identify the type."_

"Cmon then everyone is going to be waiting on us and I'm starving as well." Leading the way Morven and Fenrir washed their hands and proceeded to the dining hall, Morven watching watching Fenrir's reaction as he saw more of the manor till they were right outside of the dining hall where he stopped.

"What's up?" Fenrir asked wondering why that had stopped, the smell of food causing his stomach to growl. About to make another comment he froze seeing the serious look on Morven's face.

"Listen. This is my home, and the people in there are my family. I want to help you Mr. Argyros and I put myself on the line to do so, but know this." Morven took a step closer to Fenrir and it took all of the Faunus's self control not to bolt right there, looking into the Specialists eyes his instincts flaring as he felt for a split second Morven's killer intent. "If you try to harm them in anyway. I will kill you."

The two of them stood there in silence for a second before a voice suddenly called from inside. "Morven are you out there? Hurry up and bring your guest in so we can meet him." A came a motherly voice. Taking another deep breath Morven then nodded to Fenrir and pushed open the door.

Entering the room the first thing Fenrir noticed was the that smell, once again the scent of a Faunus hit him, not the same scent he picked up around Lyla, but a different one. But quickly overpowering that scent was the mouthwatering aroma coming from the large roast boar at the center of the table, complete with an apple in it's mouth and multiple side dishes at the ready.

"Well don't just stand there boys help yourself," said the woman sitting at the table between the young boy he met already and a much older gentleman that he could only assume was their father. He had neatly trimmed grey hair that was even more reserved than his eldest sons, wearing a simple two piece grey suit that matched his hair, he gave the two a friendly welcoming nod and gestured for them to take a seat.

"Father," Morven replied returning the nod before taking his seat, motioning for Fenrir to sit next to him. "This is my family, my mother Serena, my father Yorath, you already met my youngest brother Garreth, and that is my other brother Floyd. The new heir to the Kenrich family business."

When he done Morven turned to his father and mother, "so you know this is Fenrir Argyros, one of the two joining Winter and I's team. I know news of what had happened to Vale isn't completely well known, but it's obvious that the other Kingdoms are going to be targeted as well. I joined to…"

"Morven." Serena said gently staring at him. "Now is probably not the best time to talk about that. At least not around Garreth please." Fenrir, looking closely at her noticed that compared to her other sons, only she and Morven shared those strange gold flecks in the eyes and the dark brown hair. _"She's a lovely woman in a more mature sense,"_ Fenrir thought to himself as everyone began dishing up the food and talking, noticing that she wouldn't meet his eyes aside from her initial greeting at the start of the meal.

As dinner continued Yorath turned to Fenrir and asked, "So Mr. Argyros, I take it that you are not from around here. Where are you from?"

Meeting turning to the head of the table Fenrir met the calm brown eyes of Morvens father, his expression patient and not accusing in anyway towards the Faunus. Thinking of what to say Fenrir replied in a nervous tone, "I was born on the outskirts of Vale it was a small village by the name of Norvegr, it was never really big and well traveled so it's not on most maps, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't hear of it."

"You said it was a small village, is it not there anymore?" Yorath said with interest putting his silverware down his eyes not leaving their guest who fell silent at this and continued eating, his melancholy expression indicating that he didn't want to talk to about it was clear and Yorath didn't further press it instead turned to Morven. "I understand that you and your team are only going to be in Atlas for the next two weeks at most before back to work I assume."

"That is correct father, would it be too much trouble to provide Mr. Argyros a place to stay during that timeframe? He is afterall my responsibility now," Morven said in a strange tone nodding slightly to his father.

Fenrir's eyes widened in fear. _"What is he going to say? Am I going to be thrown out or is Morven going to have to send me back to stay in a cell,"_ he thought bracing himself for the worst.

"No that'll be fine, right dear?" Yorath asked turning to his wife who nodded, a slight fear still in her eyes. "He's welcome here as long as he needs to place to stay, granted he doesn't cause any trouble," he said with a light chuckle shooting Fenrir a friendly nod.

Setting his fork down Fenrir muttered loudly, "what is wrong with you people? Just letting me into your home no questions asked or anything, do you even know who I am or what I've done?" Everyone at the table fell silent at this and looked at Fenrir, not with looks of hate of distrust but with sympathy that caused him to bare his teeth.

Still with a look of sympathy on his face, Yorath got to his feet and came around to Fenrir's side placing a hand gently on his shoulder. "Our son trusts and believes in you so why wouldn't we? He has been known to be a pretty good judge of character." With that everyone began moving to their feet and the meal was over.

"Here come with me, I'll show you where you'll be staying," Morven said beckoning Fenrir to follow. After walking a little ways they stopped in front of a room and Morven opened the door.

"I hope this room is to your liking," Fenrir heard him say as the door opened revealing a spacious room with a double bed and closet. Walking in the rest of the way Morven reached into his coat and pulled out a folded piece of paper before muttering quietly. "Listen I know you're still not sure about trusting me, but I want you to know that I'm on your side."

Taking the piece of paper, Fenrir waited till Morven left and closed the door before he unfolded it. His heart rising in his throat blinking away tears he looked at the old photo he had taken with his family many years ago, written across the bottom in his mother's neat print was her favorite lesson to him.

"The lone wolf may be strong my son, but the pack lives without fear… Find your pack."

"Don't worry mom," Fenrir whispered sprawling across the bed looking up at the ceiling, yawning once before closing his eyes. "I'll find my pack."

 **AN:** Sup guys it's your boy Keeper here to wrap up another chapter, main man Fenrir has had it rough these last couple of chapters, but now poor guy has finally seemed to catch a break. He's not out of the woods yet though, his greatest challenge is still approaching so if you enjoyed this chapter please leave a Review, Follow, and Favorite.

This is Keeper of The One Winged Angel returning to the planet.


	4. Chapter 4

At The Edge Of Darkness

Made possible by the joint efforts of Keeper Of The One Winged Angel and TheBoredBoot

AN: Hey guys Keeper here, my partner and I want to thank all of those who have followed our story and a huge shout out to our friend and partner O.S. Worldmakers for helping make this possible, as always we greatly appreciate you the reader. Now with that said please be sure to read, review and follow.

Chapter 4

"Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake."

:Napoléon Bonaparte

 **Early morning at the Kenrich estate**

The sun was barely peeking through the blinds when Fenrir finally decided to get up. Sure, he had a good night's sleep, but he still couldn't help but feel uneasy lying in that bed. _"His family didn't even question bringing me here, they just welcomed me with open arms,"_ he thought sitting up and looking out the window, the sunlight causing him to squint slightly. "Oh well at this point it doesn't matter, I guess I'll just have to wait and see what the future holds for me."

Hopping out of bed and moving to the drawer where he placed his clothes, Fenrir froze sniffing the air. _"There's that scent again, Lyla must've come into my room without waking me up. But what for though?"_ Shaking his head he opened the drawer and found that not only his clothes were there, but they seemed to be freshly washed along with new sets of clothes that he had to assume was fitted perfectly to him.

"Hmmm ok well that questions answered," Fenrir muttered to himself throwing on a casual red button up that caught his eye and a matching pair of soft sweats. Looking himself over once and feeling satisfied he then opened the door and made his way down the dim hallway, the mansions simple layout allowing him to easily navigate to the dining room and adjoined kitchen. Opening the door he was met with the sight of Morven's youngest brother pouring himself a glass of milk, his mother beside him him at the stove cooking what he smelled to be eggs and sausage.

Hearing the door open Serena turned and found herself staring into the red eyes of the young Faunus her son and brought with him. _"Morven said his name was Fenrir. I can tell he's ex-White Fang but Morven seems to trust him, I guess I can't just get rid of old instincts no matter how many years it's been."_ Making up her mind she flashed him a smile and held up a plate. "Good morning Fenrir, I hope you slept well. Would you like some breakfast, I wouldn't mind whipping some more eggs."

Nodding Fenrir replied, "yes please, and some sausage too if that's not too much trouble." Taking a seat at the counter he noticed that Garreth was watching him intently, or to be more specific was watching his tail. The look of wonder on his face puzzling the Faunus.

"Alright eggs and sausage coming up," a nervous smile appearing on Serena's face as she grabbed more eggs. "How would you like your eggs Fenrir, Garrett preferred scrambled with cheese on them if that's what you're ok with?"

"Sounds good to me," Fenrir replied meeting her eyes again, her subtle nervousness around him catching his attention again. Taking a breath about to ask her why he caught the faint scent of another Faunus again, not the subtle reptilian scent the Lyla gave off but a more mammalian one. Like a feline. The question on the tip of his tongue Fenrir realized that Garrett and moved behind him without his notice and was staring closely at his tail."

"Gaaahhhhh!" Fenrir yelled in surprise moving to his feet looking at the child, his mind reeling at the shock that the kid had gotten so close without him noticing.

Seeing Fenrir jump, Garreth looked down with a bashful expression and softly kicked the ground for a second before looking up at Fenrir. In a timid voice he asked. "Excuse me Mr. Wolf, can I pet your tail?"

Not expecting that question Fenrir paused, a puzzled look crossing his face for a moment before he nodded, his eyes not leaving the child labor hand as they stretched towards his tail. Instinctually stiffening up expecting the Garreth to pull his tail, Fenrir was surprised when he felt the boy barely brush it. Like he was just barely streaking the fur ever so gently.

Garreth eyes opened in wonder as he marveled at the incredible softness of the wolf Faunus's tail. "Wow it's so soft," he mumbled quietly stroking the tail one last time before stopping. Taking a step back he smiled at Fenrir and thanked him for allowing him to feel his tail before taking his glass of milk and leaving the room.

"Yeah no problem squirt," Fen muttered slightly red in the face. The feeling of having someone touch his tail gently rather enjoyable, although that was something he'd never tell anyone. Watching the boy leave he then turned his gaze back to Serena, the look of amusement on her face making him blush even harder as she brought his plate over to him. The smell of eggs and sausage causing his stomach to growl which made Serena laugh quietly.

"I'm sorry about that, Garreth is a sweet boy and still very young. If you said no he would've understood," Serena said grabbing her coffee before sitting down across from Fenrir. After watching their guest with her youngest son the initial nervousness of having him in her home faded. Although her only worry now was him discovering the secret that Lyla, her husband and eldest son knew about her. Pushing that from her mind she watched as Fenrir wolfed down the the large helping of food she had dished up for him, waiting patiently before asking if he would like a second helping.

Sitting back in his chair a content look on his face, Fen smiled at the woman across from him and shook his head. "No thank you ma'am that was enough for me, although if you tell me where mugs are, I'd like to grab a glass of coffee too if that's alright." Receiving a nod he walked to the kitchen and poured himself a some. Two sugars just like his mother.

Watching him return to the table and sip his coffee Serena saw his nose twitch and a strange look cross his face, looking up from his coffee Fenrir suddenly asked. "So who are the other Faunus that live here?" Freezing in mid sip she broke eye contact with Fenrir and turned towards the window. "What? I don't know what you mean, the only Faunus here is Lyla." She said, the nervousness in her voice causing him to narrow his eyes.

"Well that's not what my nose has told me," Fen replied with a slight growl to his voice sitting up straight, his tail could be seen curling slightly as he gave her a hard look. "Ever since I've arrived here I had noticed beside Lyla, there were two other scents. Human scents seemed to be mixed with them, but the more I thought about it they were Faunus as well. It was like someone is using a human scent as camouflage."

Before Serena could open her mouth the door opened and Morven entered the dining room. "Ahh Mr. Argyros there you are, Since you've eaten breakfast I'm sure you'll be ready for your sparring match against me. You made a rather bold statement so I hope you don't disappoint me."

Fenrir looking at Morven for a split second thought he caught a hint of amusement on the man's normally expressionless face. _"Oh so he's laughing at me huh,"_ he thought heatedly completely forgetting his question and shooting Morven a dirty look. _"Well we'll see if the Storm Commander lives up to his reputation."_ Flashing Morven a smirk of his own, Fenrir downed the rest of his coffee and stood reaching up and stretching before replying. "I'll stick with what I said Morven, just try to put up some sort of fight against me."

Slightly rolling his eyes Morven sternly shot back, "well if your skills are almost as bad as your ego I shouldn't expect much, and in any case go get changed into whatever you'd prefer to fight in. We leave in thirty minutes."

Still smirking, Fenrir narrowed his eyes and stood up watching Morven leave, about to shoot another comeback when Serena's stifled giggling stopped him. With a cross expression on his face he asked, "hey what's so funny?" Feeling that he was the reason for her amusement.

Giggling a little bit longer, Serena gave Fenrir an embarrassed sort of smile. "I'm sorry Fenrir, it's just that, it's been awhile since I've seen my oldest son get fired up about something. Ever since he's found his duty he's been so serious. Don't get me wrong, he's still a loving son and older brother, but he's not the same as he was." Suddenly turning embarrassed she clapped her cheeks and began apologizing hysterically saying that it wasn't her intent to ramble on about family problems, apologizing one last time before she left the room.

Seeing that he was once again alone Fen snorted with laughter thinking of her words. _"So I can get under his skin somewhat, hmmm."_ After taking his dishes to the sink, Fen made his way to his room changing into his regular clothes. Tenderly touching his scarf he felt new determination flow through him and quickly made his way to the front door to meet Morven, the anticipation of the fight adding a noticeable pep to his step as they walked out to the car.

 **Twenty minutes later arriving at Atlas Academy**

"So this is Atlas Academy huh, I gotta say it's kind of what I expected," Fen said in a unimpressed voice staring at the militaristic building shivering slightly. The crispness in the air and brightness of the sun off the snow slightly hurting his eyes as him and Morven headed up the steps to the entrance.

"Hey Morven, Fen, over here." Yang called out from the top of the stairs waving. The two Schnee's beside her also smiling, although Fen noticed Winter's faded when she noticed him.

"Hello ladies, shall we go inside so we can conduct our business, I'm sure Mr. Argyros can't wait to show us his skills." Morven said his voice taking a condescending tone which made Fenrir bare his teeth.

Before he could shout a retort Weiss came down the remaining stairs and lept into Morven's arms. Her sister he noticed, pursed her lips but remained silent as Weiss wrapped her arms around Morven laughing excitedly while he carried her back up to the top depositing her next to Winter. "Morven I can't wait to show you the progress I've made using my glyphs," she said patting her skirt down giving him another smile. "I had Winter give me some pointers on summoning and I think I'm finally getting the hang of it."

"Well I look forward to seeing the fruits of your training Weiss, but first I actually have some business to with Fenrir and your teammate here. Speaking of which," Morven paused looking from Weiss too Yang and then back again, giving the young Schnee an accusing look. "So how much did you warn her princess? I know since you're teammates and friends, you'd want to help her out with her against me as much as you can so sharing information own our previous training matches would make sense."

Both Weiss and Yang blushed at this knowing they were caught. "I didn't tell her the secret of your semblance since I know you won't have to use it, but I did tell her a bit about your fighting style," Weiss admitted sheepishly brushing her hair from her eyes. "Besides you always say, the more intel you have on an opponent the better right?" Her arms crossed as she threw back one of his own lessons.

Morven smiled at this and patted her head. "You always were a quick study under me Weiss," he said turning and leading the group inside to the combat arenas.

Fenrir lagging behind silently followed the group listening to their conversation thinking about the fight, not really paying attention he was surprised when Yang fell back and matched his pace.

"Hey Fen how'd you sleep last night? I heard from Winter that your staying at Morven's home," she asked giving him a friendly smile. "I'm staying at the Schnee's manor for my time here so it's a real eye opener seeing how fancy everything is."

"Yeah, it's certainly different from where I grew up." Fen admitted noticing Morven watching him from the corner of his eye, still conversing with the Schnee's. "His family is really nice though, almost too nice if you ask me. Just letting a stranger stay in their home, although his mother seemed wary of me, which reminds me." Turning to Yang Fen asked. "Hey over at the Schnee mansion, do they have any Faunus servants or anything there?

"Huh?" Yang looked confused at this and had to think for a second. After a moment she shook her head, "I only say one during my time there. She was a rabbit Faunus that worked in the kitchen, she seemed rather at home. Why do you ask?"

"Well turns out Morven's wet nurse was a Faunus when he was younger, and while I was there I noticed at least two other scents that were Faunus." Fen said looking after Morven who had stopped to talk to a teacher. "I just have that feeling that he's hiding something from me, like he's trying to protect someone."

Yang watch Fen closely as he furrowed his brow deep in thought, the slight twitch of his tail and perplexed expression made her pause noticing how handsome Fen actually was. _"No stop,"_ she thought shaking her head, _"I still need to be a bit cautious of him. He may be like Blake as an Ex-White Fang member but this guy was a killer, and old habits die hard."_ Realizing the pun, Yang bit her tongue stifling a laugh which Fen noticed.

"You ok blondie?" Fen asked with raised eyebrows watching Yang closely, she seemed to be struggling with something internally and that somewhat peaked his interest. "You look like you hurt yourself, or do you always spaz out this much."

Hear his words as more of a statement rather than a question, Yang turned about to give the Faunus a piece of her mind but then saw the smile playing across his lips and stopped. _"Huh what's this a comedic rival? I guess that's fair."_ Changing her mind she just returned his smile and shook her head, giving him a nod of approval as they walked through a final set of doors entering a large room with multiple mid-sized areas and viewing areas for them.

"Welcome to the Atlas academy combat training facility. Please watch your step on the stairs we have to go all the way to one of the far arenas," Morven stated calmly continuing to lead the way, occasionally waving to students who greeted them.

"Wow this guy's pretty popular huh, must be because his family or something," Fen muttered to Yang, his tone somewhat jealous as he watched Morven, not noticing Weiss falling back to join them. "I mean even students know him, what's ups with that?"

"Actually it's because Morven is a part time combat instructor here," Weiss said evenly falling in beside Yang, giving Fenrir a pointed look before continuing. "Before he was such a high ranking Specialist, he spent a good amount of time here instructing students combat basics in his spare time. Although…" Weiss then fell silent remembering something right as the group stopped.

Realizing they had finally arrived at their arena Fen looked up and noticed a group of people approaching them. He recognized General Ironwood, and a couple of the Councilors from his trial but the woman in the red dress who was with them seemed very out of place.

Her dress had a daring plunge in the front and was open to the side from toe to upper thigh leaving very little to the imagination. The strawberry blonde blonde of her hair fell slightly past her shoulders and contrasted nicely with her sun-kissed skin.

Fen froze, feeling his gaze upon her she met his red eyes with her sea foam green ones and smiled seductively, his face turning red as he turned away noticing the look of disapproval on Yang's face while Weiss and Winter seemed to be watching Morven intensely.

"Good morning Specialist Schnee, good morning Specialist Kenrich, I see everyone is ready for their initial trial match," Ironwood said stopping in front of the group, his eyes lingering on Fenrir a moment longer before returning to the two Specialists and Weiss. A soft smile touching his face as he added, "and I see Weiss came with you, does that mean you are going to attend the academy here and follow your sister's example of becoming a Specialist Ms. Schnee?"

"I'm sorry sir but I'm not," Weiss replied politely shaking her head before looking at Winter, her sister's face unreadable. "I'm actually here to have a match with Morven as well since he promised me, I hope that's alright if he's not too busy."

"Well aside from these two trial matches he's all yours Ma'am," Ironwood said cracking a smile a Morven before turning to Fenrir looking serious again. "Mr. Argyros I want to apologize for the treatment you received while under Lore Black's custody. While you were a criminal in holding, his actions were unjustified and unethical to say the least. I hope you understand that he was not acting under anyone's orders, but rather was acting of his own accord."

Taken aback by the General's apology, Fenrir couldn't even think of a sarcastic response to this. Instead he just shrugged looking into the General's eyes muttering, "it's whatever man. Morven has already made it up to me though by giving me a place to stay so we're straight."

The General narrowed his eyes slightly at this but before he could respond the woman in the red dress chuckled at Fens words. "It seems this little wolf has quite the bark doesn't he dear," she said in a silky voice to the well dressed man beside her. "It's always refreshing to see the young are still so full of life despite these troubled times wouldn't you say."

"Yes I agree," the man said nodding his gaze resting on Fenrir. He opened his mouth to speak again when Morven interrupted and politely said, "Mr. Nier I'm surprised that you're here, usually our meetings with you take place in Vacuo. What brings you to Atlas?"

"Hello again Morven, it's always good to see you. And you as well Ms. Schnee," he said bowing politely before peering around the Specialist's to look at the three behind them pointing at Weiss first. "I recognize you as a Schnee as well but who are your companions?"

Yang feigning indignation gasped," oh my word you don't recognize me? I am Madam Xiao-long of Patch, first of my name and future ruler of the island." She said pausing for effect struggling to keep a straight face while both Weiss and Fenrir face palmed.

Everyone fell silent and stared at Yang who caved slightly under their combined stare until the woman in the red dress giggled and said, "oh I like her." Sidling up to her she leaned in close and locked eyes with Yang who blushed at the suddenness. "Ms. Xiao-long you said, my name is Zoe and I must say you are indeed a woman who may not be so refined, but you certainly have something that'll grab attention wouldn't you say," wetting her lips as she left it on that question before turning to Morven. "You're Morven Kenrich are you not? The eldest son of Yorath Kenrich, who declined being heir to the Kenrich family business?"

Morven nodded politely, "yes I am although I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you before. You said your name was Zoe? It is a honor and a pleasure to meet a woman as lovely as yourself," he said bending and kissing her hand, a gesture which wasn't missed by Winter who inwardly screamed.

"I hear you're quite skilled with that sword of yours," Zoe said seductively gesturing down on him, her heavily lidded eyes watching his every move but also watching Winter from the corner of her eye. "I look forward to seeing that for myself."

"Well stick around cause we are about to have a little match right now, a test for the young wolf here to see if he has more bite than bark, and speaking of which." Morven turned to Ironwood. "May I get started sir, I'm sure you'll find their performance satisfactory which will dictate the level of difficulty for future missions."

"Alright Morven," the General said with a calm nod turning his eye to Yang and Fenrir. "Let's see what they can do."

 **Five minute later**

Yang bounced on her toes nervously as Morven came to a stop across from her, his calm stride and expression for some reason setting her on high alert as he assumed a basic fighting stance. His weapon to her surprise not drawn but still resting on his hip.

The Ref watching from his platform then yelled, "fighters! This is a one round match, rules are simple, loser by ring out or aura depletion! Are the combatants ready?!" Looking from both Yang and Morven giving him the ok he took a deep breath."

"Begin!"

Immediately using Ember Celica, Yang blasted herself across the distance between them and went for a two handed hammer strike hoping to catch him off guard but all the while Weiss's advice playing in her mind.

" _The most important thing to know about fighting Morven is that he's patient. He can play defense all day and will wear you down easily. It'll be difficult but your best bet is to bait him into attacking and then going even harder on your offense. Be warned though, the last time he lost a match was when he was a student, so in all honestly don't expect to win."_

"That may work for you ice queen but I aim to win," she roared hitting the ground triggering her gauntlets firing two shots in his direction causing him to drop to the ground.

Expecting him to be slower Yang spun on her heel and blasted the ground again, launching herself above the prone Specialist getting ready to come down on him like a ton of bricks only to have him roll quickly to his feet and leap up towards her.

Back in the stands, Fenrir watched the fight with great interest, his eyes following Morven's movements. " _This guy is holding back that much is certain, but I can't get my temper get the better of me when it's my turn to fight. If I want him to take me seriously I'll have to at least find a way to make this sparkplug draw his sword,"_ Fenrir thought crossing his arms as Morven leaped in the air startling Yang forcing her to miss the attack and hit the ground rolling to her feet.

Turning to try and catch Morven before he landed Yang had to dive to the side, narrowly avoiding the throwing knife that he had sent but now dangerously off balance. Her eyes following the knife a sudden chill went down her spine as Weiss's final words screamed to her.

" _Whatever you do Yang don't take your eyes off him."_

"Oh shit," Yang whispered, her eyes darting back to Morven who had closed the distance between them much faster than she had expected. Eyes darting from his face to his hands she spotted another knife, held in his left hand in a reverse grip he slashed from the side going for her left.

Still off balance Yang, purely on instinct managed to get her right leg back under her body and brought her left arm up striking the knife and knocking it out of his hand. A look of shock and pride crossing her face as she shouted, "I did it!" The knife still spinning in the air as she cocked her right arm back about to punch.

"Huh, maybe I underestimated you." Morven said calmly snagging the knife out of the air with his left hand from over his shoulder, Yang's punch going right for his back as he turned. With shocking speed he used his momentum and deflected the punch with nudge from his right hand while he brought the left holding the knife past her face forcing her to leap back distancing herself from the Specialist. Staring at her for a moment before cracking another smile reaching into his trench coat pulling another knife. "Or maybe I'm just testing you still Yang."

Narrowing her eyes at his words Yang was about to shoot him a comeback when she saw it. On the ground between them, several strands of her golden sunshine colored hair laying there. Her eyes flashing red as she screamed in rage, aura flaring as she blasted towards him firing off in a huge volley.

"What I thought you needed a haircut Yang," Morven said with a low chuckle dodging her blasts closing the distance between them again. The two knives that were in his hands now embedded in the ground along with a third behind him seemingly forgotten as he went to engage her in close quarters combat.

The two of them clashed in the center of the ring, Yang throwing punches as fast as she could while Morven smoothly blocked and redirected her strikes. The contrast of control between the two obvious to those who watched from the sidelines, Morven's calm and collected movements versus Yang's rushed and thoughtless attacks.

" _I see what your doing Morven, throwing Blondie in a blind rage is smart. Once she is in that state of mind she'll fuck up and open herself up, then you use that opportunity to beat her into submission."_ Fenrir thought as his tail swayIng from side to side in anticipation for his fight. Focusing on the fight out of the corner of his eye he noticed Eve coming up towards him, a friendly smile on her face.

"Hello Fenrir, watching the fight before your up?" She asked kindly sitting beside him surveying the arena. "Oh my, Ms. Xiao-long looks quite upset. Did something happen?"

"Yea, Morven just cut off a strand of blondie's hair, so now she is in rage mode and I believe the sparkplug is about to end this match."

"Well you're right about him about to end this match, you see those knives he left on the ground behind him," Eve said pointing at the blades. "Those aren't ordinary throwing knives, you see he's not the Storm Commander for nothing…"

Yang's vision was a haze of red as she swung wildly at Morven, his annoying technique of brushing aside her attacks to block them was really getting on her nerves and she was starting to get winded which wasn't helping. After a couple more swings Yang halfway through though her attack faltered. Morven taking the opportunity ducked under the swing and swept her feet from under her, pivoting on his heel before kicking Yang in her solar plexus knocking her onto her back.

Panicking because she lost sight of him again Yang used the momentum from falling and rolled backwards back onto her feet to find Morven charging her. Bracing herself for him expecting a tackle or a kick she froze when he hurled another knife her direction. The knife unexpected fell short and landed before her a split second before a shock rooted her in place.

"Sorry Yang," was the last thing she heard before his foot impacted her chest launching her out of bounds ending the match.

"Match over!" The Ref shouted signalling that the fight was done. "Winner by ring out, Specialist Morven Kenrich."

Laying on her back outside the ring Yang was crestfallen, closing her eyes and fighting back tears of shame she thought. _"Dammit I thought I had him for a second there, but it turns out it was just all part of his plan. I hope I at least impressed him and the General since that's what this is all about. Level placement for the jobs we'll be able to do."_ Opening her eyes she was greeted by Morven standing above her holding out his hand, a look of approval on his face as he helped her up.

"I'm very impressed Yang, although all that over the loss of a little hair seemed a bit excessive. I mean you did lose your arm remember? I figured that a haircut wouldn't have been that big of a deal," Morven said walking her back to the stands

Fenrir watching this put his hand tenderly around his scarf before removing it completely, handing it to the old woman. "Can you do me a favor and hold on to this for me granny," Fenrir asked getting up from his seat. "As much as I hate to admit it this will only slow me down in my fight, and If I'm going to prove to these Atlas bums that I'm not just some kid, then the only way to prove it is by giving their top dog a run for his money!"

"Don't worry deary I'll keep it safe for you," Eve said tenderly holding the scarf. "Now you go out there and try your best alright, remember to keep an eye out for his knives and for goodness sake try not to let him get too close or put you in a hold."

"I'll keep that in mind," Fen said watching Morven closely. The Specialist he noticed was breathing slightly faster than normal and that gave a Fen hope. Waiting till Yang was closer and looked at him he shot her a thumbs up which she returned with an appreciative smile. "Don't worry Yang I'll get him back for you," he said winking at her making her and Morven laugh.

"What ever happened to you not wanting to be a knight Mr. Argyros?" Morven said with a light chuckle making Fenrir growl. "After all that's a knightly statement you made there, considering you still have to back up your earlier claim so I'd worry more about preserving your own dignity."

And with that Morven then reached out and Winter handed him Fenrir's swords which he then held out for the Faunus to take, his eyes becoming clear and focused again.

"Now let's see if you even have a bite little wolf."

 **Back in the arena five minutes later**

"Alright fighters!" The Ref called out looking down at the arena. "Just like the earlier this is a one round match, loser by ring out or aura depletion! Are the two combatants ready?"

"Yeah, ready to kick this Specialist's ass if that's what you mean." Fen said drawing his swords and baring his teeth, his tail stiffly pointing out behind him as he glared at Morven. "Then maybe I can start getting some respect around here, I hate being looked down upon by people who think they're better than me."

"Well not to burst your bubble pup, but these people here who think they're better than you. It's because they are," Morven said coolly flicking his wrist pulling out one of his knives spinning it in his left hand before flipping to into a reverse grip. His gold flecked eyes calmly surveying Fenrir's stance before he got into his own preparing for whatever the young wolf had planned.

"Begin!"

"Grrr you bastard," Fenrir yelled immediately pointing one of his blades at Morven, the glint beside the point of his blade revealed to be a barrel indicating that his swords were also guns. Firing twice aiming center mass at the Specialist he couldn't help but growl in frustration as Morven moved to the side dodging the shots effortlessly.

"Don't tell me that's all you have to show Mr. Argyros," Morven chided in an unimpressed tone waiting for the Faunus's next move. "What ever happened to this deadly White Beast that people were so afraid of?"

" _Calm down Fen, this guy just wants to make me lose my cool so he could beat me like he did with Yang, I have to find a way to force his hand before he can come in close,"_ Fenrir thought checking his surroundings. Gripping his swords tightly the Faunus leapt back focusing and summoning one of his wolves, the lightning dust from his sword flowing into the beast. This creating a blinding flash of light caused Morven to use his free hand to shield his eyes, hiding Fenrir from his sight.

" _Alright so that's how you want to play,"_ Morven thought squinting his eyes through the blinding light searching for Fenrir. _"Maybe he will put up more of a fight then I initially thought."_ Throwing his knife at the wolf causing it to vanish and the blinding light to fade.

"You're not even that tough Morven!" Fenrir shouted coming in from the left swinging one of his swords straight for the Specialist's throat.

"Not tough you say," Morven scoffed swiping his hand to the left, the force of it hitting Fenrir's wrist not only blocking the strike but knocking the blade from his right hand before finishing with a two hit attack ending and a uppercut knocking Fenrir onto his back. Looking down at the Faunus Morven sighed trying to choose his words carefully, he could tell already that the young wolf was getting flustered and soon wouldn't listen at all. "You still have a lot to learn if you're going to fight alongside us Fenrir, the world is becoming more dangerous everyday and it's people like us that have to do their part to protect those that can't protect themselves."

"Just shut up!" Fenrir shouted getting back to his feet, gripping his sword tightly as he shot Morven a glare before dashing toward his other blade snatching it up and firing another couple rounds at the Specialist. "Is this a fight or are you just gonna lecture me into submission! I didn't hear you talking blondies ear off during your fight with her so what's the deal of adding this torture for me?!"

"Calling this torture is a bit of an exaggeration don't you think," Morven replied dodging the shots taking a quick step closer a look of exasperation dotting his face. Flicking his wrist he pulled another knife using it to parry another slash continuing his conversation like nothing was going on. "After all I'm going to be your instructor and Winter is going to be in charge of me, so it would be in your best interest to learn to get along."

"Oh give me break with all your bullshit Morven! You think I'll listen to a Schnee?" Fenrir yelled going for another slash growling when his attacks were met with a reversal. Jumping and feigning an attack from above Fen launched a kick from the left hitting Morven's forearm, seeing an opening in his defenses thrust his sword forcing Morven backwards towards the edge.

Narrowing his eyes feeling the edge behind him, Morven shifted to the right passing the blade. "Pride is an important thing but don't be a fool," striking down with a hammer fist Morven went to connect with Fenrir's right right blade when he saw it. The electrical charge from the lightning dust arcing across the surface of left hand blade coming right for him.

With speed and power Fenrir didn't expect and barely managed to block in time, he suddenly felt himself lifted off the ground following the blow from Morven's sword. The move itself he barely caught a glimpse of it but looking down from the air he could see how he did it. _"Damn that was close, although…"_ A smile spreading across face as he met Morven's eyes, the expression on Morven's face torn between annoyance and approval. _"I got him to draw his sword so now I can see what he's really made of."_

"Alright Fenrir you have my undivided attention now," Morven said evenly moving as if to sheath his sword but then stopping seeing Fenrir's eyes follow his blade. The realization that that was what he was after the whole time causing a ghost of a smile to cross his face. "So you wanted me to draw Storm Razor and you got it. So now what, did you actually plan this far ahead?"

"I thought it was obvious you sparkplug," Fenrir retorted landing in the center of the ring. Tail twitching in excitement as he crossed his two blades pausing before shouting, "now I'm gonna get serious and kick your ass!" Lashing his swords out he triggered the separators on the spine of the blade transforming them into bladed whips, their reach quadrupling as they cut straight for the Specialist from either side.

"Don't call me that," Morven said in a irritated tone diving under the swinging blades moving closer, his eyes following Fenrir's hands as he felt one of the blades close in behind him. Not even he moved his left hand blocking the strike from over his shoulder, redirecting all the force away from him as he rushed Fenrir.

 **At the same time in the stands**

Yang watched the fight with baited breath as Morven moved in suddenly, the fight she had noticed from start held a much different tone from when she went against the Specialist. While Morven had remained silent for the most part against her, now he seemed very talkative. Like this was more than a fight for the two of them.

The clash of blades was loud but Yang couldn't help but turn away from the fight and look across the sizable crowd that had gathered to watch. Varying from students and faculty members, to parents and highborn families watching the fight with rising interest. One person she noticed seemed to be watching the fight much more closely, that Zoe woman she had met earlier who was with the businessman from Vacuo.

Even from this distance she could see the woman's eyes following Morvan, a predatory sort of look on her face that for some reason sent a shiver down her spine. Unable to figure out why she felt the way she did, Yang turned away continuing to survey the crowd. To her surprised she spotted two people she recognized. Neon Katt and Flynt Coal from their two on two battle during the Vytal Festival, were now sitting in the same outfits they wore watching the fight. Straining to pick out their voices in all of the commotion Yang swore she heard Neon's voice shout, "Yeah kick his butt teach!" While Flynt sat there beside her watching intently.

Suddenly the gathered crowd roared in excitement causing Yang to turn back to the fight in time to see Fenrir's other sword fly from his hand, the blade sailing out of bounds, Morven slashed again with his own sword and knocked Fenrir after the blade. Looking up at the screens showing their Aura levels she saw that while Morven's had only gone down a little, Fenrir had his low in the red indicating that either by ring out or another hit he would've been done either way.

"Match over! The winner, Specialist Morven Kenrich, by ring out!" the referee cried, signaling the end of the battle.

" _Well he did a bit more damage to the guy then me,"_ she thought nodding her head, impressed. _"And not only did he manage to make him draw his sword, but he also attempted to go toe to toe with him as well. That makes me wonder, which of us would win a fight?"_ Yang pondered this as she watched Morven go down from the platform, offering Fenrir a hand up.

 **Back down on the arena floor**

"I must say you put up a better fight than I first expected Mr. Argyros," Morven said politely sheathing Storm Razor before holding out his hand. "Through combat, one can truly understand another wouldn't you agree. I'm sure even Ironwood was impressed by your demonstration of strength as well. If I had to say it we might have quite the choice pick of mission, how does that…"

"Shut up I don't care!" Fen yelled smacking Morven's hand away before standing and glaring at him. "I bet you enjoyed destroying my pride, but then again I shouldn't be shocked. I mean look at you, a silver spoon raised highborn who got everything he ever wanted in life. I got news for you Kenrich, if you think this means we understand each other then you're wrong. You don't know a damn thing about me." Shooting Morven one last glare, Fenrir shuffled off from the ring picking up his swords and sheathing them before returning to the stands joining Yang.

Looking after the young Faunus Morven decided against immediately going after him thinking. _"I guess that loss hurt his pride more than I predicted,"_ sadly watching Fenrir sit beside Yang. Sighing heavily he then turned and headed to where the Ironwood was sitting in the stands.

Holding out a bottle of water that Eve had grabbed for them Yang smiled sympathetically at Fenrir. "You put up a pretty good fight Wolfy, better than I did anyway, but I think we had zero chances of winning that fight from the start."

Grabbing the bottle from the blonde Fenrir took a deep swig before looking at Yang a grateful expression on his face. "Thanks Yang at least you're not gonna rub it my face, but I have to get stronger so I can not only get some payback on my brother but also surpass Morven and once that's done I'll leave to Vale," his tone turning dark as he thought of his brother.

Seeing his dark expression and wanting to change the subject Yang turned her gaze to the crossed swords on Fenrir's back. Feeling curious she asked, "hey Fen that thing you did with your swords was pretty cool. It certainly caught Morven's attention turning them into whips."

"Oh, that. It was nothing," Fen growled, taking another gulp of water before giving Yang a suspicious look. "Why are you being so friendly with me blondie, don't get me wrong I appreciate the gesture... but it's just something that I'm not used to." He put the water down and gave the blonde Huntress a look between suspicion and sadness.

Yang nodded sympathetically, and looked over at one of the other arenas where two students were fighting before saying in a low voice. "Yeah. I don't blame you I guess. Humans aren't necessarily the nicest huh, and considering that you were in the White Fang for so long. I can understand your wariness to not trust us, Winter especially."

"I'm sorry blondie. Lets just say I have some scars that just won't heal, but... judging how you refer to Ice Queen you must be close to the family huh?" Fen asked taking another sip of water. But before that, he stole a quick glance of the blonde brawler and blushed slightly. " _Now that I get time to look at her... Yang is really hot- No! What the hell am I thinking!? She would never be into some lowlife Faunus like me!"_

Looking over at Winter, Yang laughed quietly, a melodious sound to those around before she answered. "Winter? No actually this would only be the second real time I've met her. Back at Beacon, well before the attack I was on a team with her younger sister. Sure we all butted heads from time to time, but when it really came down to it we all had each other's backs. Well, that was most of us anyway…" Yang said, her voice trailing off as her thoughts drifted elsewhere.

Fenrir noticed the sad tone in her voice, decided to fix things before it got any worse. "Here's some friendly advice for ya Yang. Whatever demons you have locked away, it would be best if you face them as quickly as possible, because if you let those emotions get in the way during a fight you'll fall!" he said giving the blonde brawler a rare smile as he continued, "but hey since we are teammates now I guess we'll have each others back and show that Spark plug that he's not the only top dog in this pack."

"Ironic you'd say that pup," a voice came as Weiss sat down beside Yang out of nowhere giving Fenrir a somewhat suspicious look before shrugging and saying under her breath, "I will say you were somewhat impressive. I wasn't the only person who noticed during your fight with Morven. To get him to draw his blade, there might be some promise for you."

Fenrir gave Weiss a sly smile, " Well I'm so glad that I have your approval, Ice Queen, but I'm going to tell you what I told both Morven and your sister. Just because I'm young doesn't mean I don't know how to handle my girls in combat. So the next time I see that guy in the ring, let's just say he's going to need a change of batteries!" He said throwing his fist in the air, leaving the two girl's dumbstruck at his pun.

Yang cracked a smile and then burst out laughing, the expression on the young's wolf's face being too much for her as she wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Wow you know we might actually become good friends if you have a killer sense of humor," she said with another laugh ignoring Weiss's eye roll. "I agree with you though, next time." Yang punched her fists together to empathize her point, "next time I'm gonna beat him too."

"You? Beat Mr. Kenrich? Don't make me laugh," Neon said walking up to their group. Well move like skating up since she was wearing those skates she was always seen with during the tournament. Beside her looking collected as usual was Flynt Coal who gave his to old opponent a nod and a smile in greeting.

"Hey Schnee, Fireball, new guy. Couldn't help but overhear your conversation just now. So what's brings you guys to Atlas? I mean, I figured you'd be back in Vale considering what happened," Flynt said shaking his head sadly.

At the mention of of ruined kingdom Fenrir averted his eyes shamefully. Although he didn't directly take part in the attack, he still felt bad for what transpired during the fall. " _What can I say, even though I was not there during the attack on beacon I'll be seen as the bad guy and nothing I do will bring the people who died back."_

Noticing the sad expression on his face Yang nudged Fenrir's shoulder giving him a sympathetic look, "Hey Wolfy what's wrong you look like something's troubling you?"

"Awww he's probably just a little butthurt that he lost," Neon said butting in. Her own tail playfully swaying as she skated around them. "It's really surprises me that you thought you had a chance though against him though, maybe the schools you went to made you think you were a hot shot. Well I got news for you." Neon said suddenly stopping in front of Fen, her hand pointing accusingly in his face. "My fearless leader over there," pointing her other hand at Flynt, "we've been students here at Atlas for awhile so we know that there are somethings that students haven't been able to do, and beating Morven is one of them."

"Neon please cool it," Flynt said in an exasperated tone pushing her hand out of his face, turning to Fenrir he nodded and held out his hand. "Hey sorry about Neon here, she kind of needs to work on her filter. But what she said about Morven though is correct although…" Flynt's eyes narrowed slightly as he met Fen's red ones, "very few have even managed to make him use Storm Razor in their first fight so we'll acknowledge your skill in accomplishing that."

"Thanks, I've been training my ass off but did not think he would be that strong," Fenrir said before turning his gaze to the cat Faunus with a toothy grin on his face. "I knew you looked familiar fuzz ball, I remember watching your match with Yang in the tournament," his own tail swaying playfully as he walked up to her. "She hit you so hard that the fight ended in a cat-tastrophy wouldn't you say?"

Hearing this Neon cracked a smile and laughed out loud while Yang snorted in surprise, the absolute ridiculousness in his pun bringing tears to her eyes as the two girls began laughing uncontrollably.

"Wow and I thought blondie's jokes over here were bad," Neon said still laughing. Resuming her skating around them she kept laughing until Flynt stuck his foot out tripping her into a chair where she landed pouting that her fun was being interrupted.

Shaking his head and turning to Fen, Flynt gave the wolf an embarrassed look. "Hey man sorry if Neon over here was being rude, but I will say that was pretty terrible. Anyway I am curious, who are you and what are you doing here with Mr. Kenrich, Winter and Yang?"

Fenrir still had a smile on his face before quickly giving flynt a serious look, "sorry guys but if I told you that I would get a never-ending lecture from my ball and chain or her there," gesturing towards Morven, who was in the middle of a serious conversation with Ironwood and Winter.

"Fenrir's right guys, it's not our place to tell plus we'd wouldn't want to get you two in trouble with Morven or Winter," Yang said as she put her hand behind her head hoping to change the subject.

Conveniently enough before another question could be asked Morven's voice rang out. "Alright Weiss you ready to go? Just like I promised," he said in a friendly tone approaching them. Getting closer he recognized Neon and Flynt, and shot them a friendly smile. "Oh hello again Neon, how it going Flynt? Hows your father doing these days?"

"Hello Mr. Kenrich," the duo said simultaneously smiling back waving, Flynt taking a step forward to shake his hand. "My dads doing fine, thanks for asking. Are you about to go a round with the Schnee over there?" He asked pointing at Weiss who was checking Myrtenaster.

"Yeah, after all I did promise her I'd have a little match against her." Morven said giving Weiss a thumbs up before looking at the trumpeter with a challenging smile. "Why do you want to go a round too?"

Putting up his hands in mock surrender Flynt laughed, "ha ha no thanks I choose life teach. But I'll happily watch from the sidelines if that's ok?" He said taking a seat beside Fen, kicking back and getting comfortable.

"Yeah I'm gonna agree with the boss here," Neon chirped from her chair as well fidgeting a second before getting comfortable. Seeing he was still standing there she gave him a shooing motion. "Get to fighting already teach, I love a good show."

Chuckling slightly, Morven waited a moment for Weiss to join him and the two of them left for the arena while the rest watched.

Waiting till they were out of earshot Fenrir scoffed and turned back to Yang, muttering under his breath. "Watch, I bet Morven's going to take it easy on the Schnee and then praise her afterward, you know since their families are so close." Taking another sip of his water he sighed grumpily before falling silent.

Catching what Fen said with her sharp ears Neon let out a loud laugh and smacked her knee, the randomness of it to everyone else which made them give her a strange look, but she ignoring them and stared at Fen before explaining. "You really think that's how he operates? Well considering this isn't their first fight you can guarantee that he won't go easy on her, in fact he might even be harder on her then he was on you two." She said pointing at Yang as well getting the her attention.

Hearing this, Yang couldn't help but wonder what she meant by that, Fenrir as well who turned at the same time both asking in a confused voice, "what do you mean he won't go easier on her?" Both of them freezing and blushing from the surprise of being in unison.

"Begin!" Cried the Referee, immediately triggering Weiss's first attack, a graceful slash with her rapier while creating several of her runes which began rapidly firing beams of energy at Morven, who countered with his own drawn sword deflecting them.

"Well you see look at it this way," Neon explained leaning back in her seat turning her eyes to the fight. "I'm sure you know now that Morven and Winter were supposed to get married. Both of them being respective heirs to their family's legacy. Because of that in Weiss's eyes she is his sister in law and so she works hard training and fighting so he doesn't have to worry about her."

"I don't understand it," Fen groaned turning to watch the fight as well, his fists clenched seeing that Morven already had his sword drawn and was heavily engaged against the younger Schnee. _"Dammit, looks like I didn't put up that good of a fight if Morven started off with his sword against that little bitch, what can she do that I can't?"_ Sulking slightly Fen sighed and crossed his arms falling silent watching the fight with a sullen disinterest.

Turning her gaze to Fenrir Yang pursed her lips and sighed as well, being prideful herself she could understand Fen being upset after his loss. _"I just wish I knew what to say to cheer him up,"_ she thought racking her brain for a topic when she remembered him mentioning something about his brother. Taking a sip of her own water Yang then gently nudged Fen to get his attention before asking. "Hey, well since we are going to be working together for awhile I guess it would be better if we got to know each other a little better don't you think?"

At these words Fen could've sworn his heart skipped a beat, as he turned and met her lilac eyes, those lovely lilac eyes that he could just stare at and get lost in. _"Dammit what am I doing?"_ He thought shaking his tearing his eyes away, his cheeks burning slightly as he sighed again trying to pick his words. "Yeah… I guess blondie. So you wanna ask first or should I?"

Yang paused and thought for a moment before asking. "So where are you from Fen? Did you Grow up in the big city or more out in the country?"

"It was more out in the country actually, a small village named Norvegr on the outskirts of Vale. Although…" Fen's tone turned sad as memory of his former home. "It doesn't exist anymore, the Grimm saw to that years ago."

"Oh…" Yang muttered falling silent at this before saying in a kind voice. "Well I'm sorry that happened Fen, I really am. At least your ok though, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to meet."

The suddenness of what Yang's words shocked and embarrassed Fen, who pretended to shrug it off muttering "thanks" under his breath, his face turning red again as he quickly tried to change the subject.

Flynt, who had been watching the fight but listening in smirked at Fen's nervousness but said nothing, while Neon on the other hand could barely contain her giggling fit of laughter as she watched the two of them. About to open her mouth and make a joke about it she was interrupted by a sudden cheer from the crowd that was watching.

In the arena Weiss had just created an ice trap catching Morven by his foot that held him in place while she lept above him, coming down she kicked out her foot aiming for his face, the look of extreme concentration on her face as she descended upon him turning to shock as he caught her foot with his left hand.

"Gotcha Weiss," he said with grin preparing to pull her in close when suddenly his left wrist had one of her black glyphs around it holding it in place leaving him outstretched and exposed, obviously part of her plan as she smiled while another much larger white glyph appeared to her right.

Fen watching along with everyone else had his eyes widen in surprise when from Weiss's glyph a colossal armored arm wielding a massive sword materialized. Looking at the arm Fen could only think, _"wow that's an aura construct, just like my wolves but on a much bigger scale. To think that she could create and control something that…"_ He watched in awe as the arm swung it's sword down at Morven who didn't seemed worried.

Making a split-second decision, Morven released the grip he had on Weiss's foot while at the same time with his right hand, stabbed up shattering the glyph that held him in place hitting Weiss, who blocked a majority of the hit with her blade but still lost a good chunk of aura. His eyes darting back to the large sword coming at him. Using the momentum from his attack he turned and angled Storm Razor forcing the attack to miss and impact the ground beside him. Like Weiss though the force of the attack took a chunk of his aura with it as part of the arena floor shattered under the strength of the blow covering the arena in a cloud of smoke.

" _So there is that much difference between us that he fights the ice queen with his sword right off the bat, it's as if him and all these Atlas big shots are spitting in my face!"_ Fenrir thought as he clenched his fist tightly, watching as the fight ended at last the Faunus slumped further into his seat something that did not go unnoticed.

"Hey Fen are you ok?" Yang asked in a concerned look on her face, as she noticed the annoyed look on his face but before she could say anything they were interrupted by familiar voice.

"Aww what's the matter dog, you a little upset?" Winter said with a smirk looking at Fenrir, the anger on his face directed at the fight amusing her for some strange reason. Thinking to herself, _"oh I see what it is._ You're mad that my sister is on such a higher level huh," Winter said with a smirk.

Fenrir gave the older Schnee sly smirk before spitting, "that's cute do all Specialist act this obnoxious or are you just bitchy by nature!" Crossing his arms he gave Winter a glare and then added. "But then again,seeing how you act like such a schoolgirl around Morven I can see that being professional is difficult for you."

Narrowing her eyes, Winter opened her mouth to tell Fen off when the crowd roared again. Turning her eyes to the arena, as the smoke began to clear she caught sight of her sister lying on the outside. The referee shouting at the top of his lungs, "round over! Winner by ring out once again, Morven Kenrich!"

"Why am I not surprised," Fenrir said sarcastically looking through the fading smoke and spotting the Specialist, standing beside a large crater in the arena floor from Weiss's last attack. Looking closer however he noticed that Morven's right sleeve was torn and he had a big smile on his face, like something amazing had happened.

"Wow… She's gotten that much better with her control in such a short time? That's incredible," Yang whispered watching Weiss climb to her feet before shooting Morven a smile and shrugging. The older Specialist jumping down off the arena and returning her smile before they both were swarmed by people from the crowd commenting and asking questions about their fight.

Hearing Yang's comment Fen turned and looked at her, his eyes seeing the self-disappointment on her face as she watched her old teammate and understanding what she was feeling. _"I guess she'd understand better than anyone else right now."_ He thought thinking how after his loss he felt the same doubt in his own strength. Thinking back to how it was the same way with his brother too, always faster and stronger then him, it was a rivalry where the difference in their strength was a widening gap.

"You know what this means right Yang?" Fen whispered getting her attention, their eyes meeting as she nodded. "Yeah, if we are going be fighting alongside these Specialists, we'll have to train even harder. Maybe even together if that's ok with you?" Yang finished flashing Fen another smile which he immediately returned.

Seeing the fight was over now Neon and Flynt also got to their feet and sighed. "Well it's been real cool catching up again blondie," Neon said spinning on her skates before taking off and calling back over her shoulder. "Maybe next time we can go another round! That is unless you're scared."

Watching her skate off cackling wildly Flynt sighed and shook his head apologetically. "What a headache. Sorry about that Yang, I'm sure you've figured by now that she's a little out there if you know what I mean. Anyways it's good to see that you're ok after what happened at Beacon and I hope you take care, and it was nice to meet you too… Fenrir?" Flynt asked carefully holding his hand out, not wanting to offend him.

"Yeah, although like the blonde here you can call me Fen," Fenrir replied accepting his handshake flashing the trumpeter a friendly smile.

"Well it's good to see that you're getting along with other now," Morven said interrupting them as he carried a disgruntled looking Weiss up the stairs, an amused expression on his own face while the Schnee in his arms continued to pout.

"Actually yeah," Yang said quickly answering before Fen could open his mouth. "Believe it or not we are going to start training together cause we have a goal now," pointing her finger at at the amused Specialist. "And that goal is to kick your ass next time we fight Morven."

"I'll be looking forward to a rematch against you two," Morven replied calmly gently setting Weiss down before standing up straight looking down on them, his face turning serious, although they could see the ghost of a smile still on his face as he said calmly. "That's a good goal to have but the two of you have a long road ahead of you if you're going to try and best me, luckily if you allow it." Morven's eyes fell to Fenrir who bared his teeth at him, "I'll train you myself. After all out there we'll be watching each other's backs, so we'll have to learn and trust each other's skills."

Still glaring at Morven, Fenrir scoffed while Yang nodded in agreement, a look of determination settling on her face as she pumped her fist before asking. "Alright well now that's said and done, now what?"

Winter exchanging a look with Morven sighed. "Well after discussing your results with the General, the team has been clearance for class two missions and below with personal preference a priority."

"And that's means what exactly?" Fenrir snapped crossing his arms staring the Schnee down, all this protocol and procedure finally starting to get to him.

"What it means is, we are leaving the choice of missions we go on to the two of you," Morven said gesturing to Yang and Fen before adding. "Unless it's a request from the General or higher, so this means that in between mission we will be training. But… After your hard work today I think you've earned some time off, so if there's anything you'd like to do for the rest of the day we can go ahead and do that."

"And what about tonight?" Winter asked giving her partner a sideways look, an unspoken question lingering in the air between them as Morven nodded.

"Ahh yes regarding tonight, well I believe a small celebration is in order now." Morven said smiling again. "A celebratory dinner sounds like a good way for the team to come together in agreement, if you would like Winter, you, Yang and Weiss are more then welcome to stay the night as well. I'm sure Floyd and Garreth would be thrilled to see the two of you again, as well as meet you Yang."

"Who would like to meet me?" Yang asked, a puzzled expression on her face till Fen nudged her. "Don't worry about them Yang, those are just Morven's two younger brothers. The youngest Garreth is actually a sweet kid. For a human that is," he added quickly noticing Morven's slight smile.

"Oh well we'd hate to impose on you and your family Morven," Winter began to stammer blushing slightly while her sister rolled her eyes and grabbed onto Morven's arm again cutting her off. "Thanks Morven, and we'd be happy to stay the night again, it's been far too long since our families have gotten together although this time it won't be about the tiresome business our fathers always talk about. You know like arranged marriages and continuing the family business," an evil grin crossing her face while her sister blushed even harder at the mention of marriage.

"Great some much for having a quiet night," Fenrir growled listening to the conversation from the sidelines, his eyebrow twitching in irritation at the nonchalant conversation between the Schnee's and Morven before he finally snapped and interrupted. "Hey you said we could be free the rest of the day right? And I know because of our deal I'm supposed to remain under your supervision, but that being said I'd like to get out of here and go do something."

Winter still a little red from her sister embarrassing her was about to open her mouth and snap back at the young wolf when Morven gently touched her shoulder and stopped her, turning his eyes to Fen he nodded and then asked. "So what was it you were trying to go do then, did you make a plan with Yang?"

"Yeah we decided that it would be a good idea to go shopping," Yang said cutting in, shooting a wink at Fen which wasn't missed by Morven. "I'd like to go shopping for some clothes and maybe dust modifications and ammo for our weapons, maybe also look around the city a little bit too if that's not too much trouble."

"Oh that's a great idea Yang," Weiss said joining the conversation. Her unusual cheery demeanor causing everyone gathered to give her strange looks which she promptly ignored, turning to Yang she took her hands and smiled again before adding. "I know this great place for clothes and you're probably more fun to shop with than Winter. They also have a big section of male clothes too, that is if your friend needs some new clothes as well?" Her last question being directed at Fenrir himself who gave Weiss a surprised look.

"Well I need to get some new gear, maybe some dust for my girls and some new clothes to keep warm in this icebox you people call Atlas, kinda wish I was back in Vale or Mistrial, at least there I didn't have to worry about getting sick." Fenrir said sarcastically blushing at the wink the blonde brawler sent him, his tail wagging slightly but luckily it went unnoticed by everyone except Morven who smiled for some reason.

"So it's decided then, I'll call the car back and we can all go together." Morven said excusing himself from the conversation and pulling out his scroll to make the call, while Yang and Fen awkwardly just stood there not knowing what else to say waiting for him to come back.

Figuring she'd have a minute, Weiss also excused herself and gestured for Flynt to join her and began talking to him in a low voice, Fenrir's sharp ears just barely being able to catch bits and pieces of their conversation before he nodded and bid his goodbye. Still though the bits of their talk he overheard had piqued his interest, and seeing it as a chance to tease the Weiss asked, "so what was that all about Weiss? Planning a date or something?"

At the mention of a date Weiss froze before shooting Fenrir a dirty look snapping irritatedly. "No that's not it at all, I was just inviting him to the event that my family is hosting in month. It's a charity ball for the tragedy in Vale, and rather just having just a bunch of stuffy business types I figured it would be better to have some fellow students come as well."

"Well that's nice of your family," Yang chimed in quietly. "It's nice to see that others are willing to help after such a tragedy, something that will be greatly appreciated by everyone back home."

Fenrir on the other hand scoffed and looked Weiss dead in the eye before saying coldly, "that sounds all nice and good but that's not the real reason your fathers doing this huh? If I had to guess, I'd say that this has a more to do with the SDC's self interest."

Weiss narrowed her eyes at this and nodded slowly her cross tone though not directed at Fen as she replied, "that's what I suspect as well, considering he wishes for me to perform before the actual party." Crossing her arms in a low voice so that only Fen and Yang could hear she muttered. "Once again I'm being treated like my father's trophy, it's unfair how I can't do anything to escape that fate."

Hearing this Fen couldn't help but allow a puzzled expression to cross his face, sure he had no love for the Schnee's, in fact he'd usually say he detested them for their treatment of Faunus. _"Still it's sad anyway,"_ he thought looking at Weiss the break in her haughty attitude towards him he couldn't help but wonder, maybe some of the many stories and rumors circulating about the Schnee's were just made up.

Pushing those thoughts from his mind Fen bit his tongue to hold back from voicing his own opinion, instead he turned and watched Morven walk back to the group.

"Alright everyone," he said getting the groups attention gesturing towards the exit. "I sent for a different car since we are all going together now, so it might take a minute longer to arrive. But while we have time there's a little food bar where we can grab a bite to eat before we head out, although I suggest you save your appetite for dinner tonight. After all it's not too often my mother and I get to help cook so it should be something special," Morven said with a small smile.

"You can cook? I figured that you had servants or chefs do that for you." Yang said trying to picture Morven in the kitchen, and then laughing at the image that came to mind before stopping and giving the Specialist a genuine smile. "That sounds great Morven I'm sure we'll all love it."

"Tsk," Fenrir exhaled sharply getting Morven's attention, his arms crossed as he rolled his eyes muttering. "It's not a big deal, I know how to cook as well," his tone causing Morven to raise an eyebrow in interest.

" _Hmmm interesting, you must really want Yang's attention huh,"_ he thought his eyes going from the wolf to the blonde and then back to the wolf. _"In that case let's see if we can get you to open up Mr. Argyros."_ Giving the young wolf a friendly smile Morven then said, "you can cook as well? That's great, you can help us. It'll be a good time and you can show off what you know."

Grumbling under his breath, Fenrir was about to tell Morven to shove it when Yang interrupted. "Yeah wolfey help them cook, I'm sure your food will taste great as well." Yang's friendly smile stopping his retort causing him to just nod his head, a slight blush dotting his cheeks.

Everyone except Winter chuckled at this as the group made their way to the exit, when they reached the outside there was a large limousine waiting for them, the man standing beside it Fenrir recognized as the driver from before waiting for them.

Gesturing to the vehicle Morven said to the group, "alright everyone pile in. We should set some ground rules, since I know two of you aren't familiar with Atlas so Weiss will show you around. Winter and myself will be around as well in case anything happens." His eyes falling on Fenrir who shrugged and rolled his eyes again.

"Yeah yeah, from what I remember Ada… Our CO used to tell us during my time in the Fang that Atlas was a rough place for Faunus." Fen said quietly catching himself from mentioning his old mentors name. "But I guess his opinion may have been biased since so far the only real assholes here have been Lore and the Ice Queen," jerking his thumb towards Winter smirking.

"Hey listen here you flea ridden mutt!" Winter yelled after processing his comment while Fen climbed into limo, her blood boiling she prepared to go after him when a gentle hand came to rest on her shoulder. Turning angrily to see who it was she then met Morven's gaze and immediately calmed down, a slight blush appearing on her face at the realization. "That little punk." She hissed to herself shaking her head while Morven chuckled kindly.

"The young wolf learns pretty quickly, wouldn't you say Winter." Morven said with an amused expression on his face watching the students in the back, seeing they were settling in Morven then held out his hand and helped helped Winter into the Limo before climbing in himself signaling the driver they were ready to leave.

AN: Hello again everyone it's me TheBoredBoot, a thousand apologies for the wait on this latest chapter, but I've been spread a little thin due to a recent venture I've started. Because my partner has been a little busy I've decided that I may start dabbling in taking some requests for a few oneshots. If you're interested feel free to drop me a pm. For a sample of the style of oneshot also feel free to check out my little Rosewick short Crime Doesn't Pay. As for limits to what I'll write for these shorts it will really depend on the idea, just a warning. Anyway thank you again for reading this latest chapter and if you enjoyed it and have feedback, please follow and drop a review for us to check out.

Regards,

TheBoredBoot


	5. Chapter 5

At The Edge Of Darkness

Made possible by the joint efforts of Keeper Of The One Winged Angel and TheBoredBoot

AN: So after I don't know how many months, here we are again with the next chapter of this gripping tale. A thousand apologies for the wait and I hope you readers that stuck around understand that our professional lives take priority over our writing, but now that we have a bit more free time, my partner an I hope to return to the consistent schedule of posting chapters. So too old and new readers alike, welcome back.

Chapter 5

"Challenges are what makes life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful."

: Joshua J. Marine

Despite being apprehensive at first of going into the city, Fenrir couldn't help but marvel at the size of the buildings surrounding them. Around them a light snow fell; the hustle and bustle of the city would not stop as everyone went about their lives.

"I take it that this is your first time in one of the main cities, Mr. Argyros? What do you think of Atlas just from the outside view?" Morven asked as he moved beside the young Faunus. His gaze too looked out towards the bustling streets.

Growling in slight annoyance, Fenrir shook his head. "I don't know what to think right now. All I've ever been told about cities, namely Atlas, is that Faunus are treated like second class citizens. That we're just used and tossed aside when we have no value anymore."

Morven remained silent and thought deeply about this, the bitterness he heard in the young wolf's voice saddened him on the inside.

"Mr. Argyros…"

"Can you stop calling me that?" Fenrir snapped, interrupting Morven as he glared at the Specialist. "I'm not an old man or anything, again just call me Fenrir, alright? It'll save time and won't be nearly as annoying."

Giving him a small smile, Morven nodded. "Alright then Fenrir, I'll keep that in mind." He watched as Yang exited the Limo and grabbed Fenrir's arm.

"Hey c'mon Fen, let's go!" Yang said impatiently pulling his arm. "Weiss says she knows a great place where we can shop for clothes, and then afterward another where we can buy quality dust ammo for our weapons."

"Geez, alright I'm coming blondie," Fenrir jokingly groaned going after her before stopping and realizing something.

"What the matter, Fen?" Yang asked seeing he had stopped and turned to stare at Morven. There was a questioning look on the Faunus's face.

Reaching into his trench coat, Morven pulled two silver and black cards out and tossed them to Fenrir and Yang. "Here you two go. It goes without saying that now that you work with adults you'll be getting paid for your services; the same as Winter and myself," Morven's tone was light but then turned very serious.

"Now that you'll be getting paid, the two of you will start to taking on more responsibilities. That being said, I won't lie to the two of you. The cards will be monitored to track your expenses since the two of you are some of the youngest to work as a Specialist, but after demonstrating good responsibility that'll end and the two of you will be able to do whatever you want with your money. But I use that term loosely, so keep that in mind."

Holding the card in his hand Fenrir looked it over and then gave Morven a nod, pocketing the card before going after Yang and Weiss as they headed towards their first stop.

"So now what do we Morven?" Winter asked sidling up beside, watching the three of them go on ahead.

"We'll tag along and if we need anything we'll pick it up as well Winter," Morven chuckled. He put on his aviators and moved after them, gesturing Winter to follow as the group gathered together.

 **Two hours later of shopping later**

"I'm looking looking for some .38 special dust rounds. My preference is lightning, but if you're out of stock it's no big deal. I can make use of fire and earth dust." Fenrir said the store owner, his eyes watching the man who looked him over once with a curious expression.

" _Oh here we go, this assholes probably gonna come up with some excuse about not serving me or saying their out of stock since I'm a Faunus."_ he thought angrily as he examined the look on the man.

After a moment of silence, the man gave Fenrir a sly smile and gestured to the wall behind him. "Not to worry sir, we have a full stock of conventional dust, as well as several varieties of the more exotic dust types, if they take your fancy. As for munitions we have the cleared universal casings for almost all types of firearms except for military grade. For those you'll have to go through the Specialist armory."

"Hmmm alright then," Fenrir said thinking for a second before answering. "I'll need a light mixed case of lightning and fire dust rounds. Also, if you have a fine grain whetstone, I'll take that too." Fenrir said with a smirk of his own as he brandished his new card."

Seeing the card the clerks raised his eyebrows in surprise, checking behind the Faunus he then noticed the two other Specialists along with who he recognized as Weiss Schnee and put two and two together. "Ahhh I see sir, so you're working with those Specialists I'm assuming? In that case allow me to change your regular lightning dust for the more refined type. No extra charge of course for with the refined dust the output of the elemental discharge will be increased. Something I think you all can appreciate while in a fight."

Considering the benefits of the dust Fenrir smiled and nodded, "alright sounds good thanks."

"No problem sir, now I'll be right back after I ring you up. Turning around he then called out, "Lena! I need a light mixed case of .38 special! Half lightning, half fire! Make sure for the lightning you use the quality refined stuff got it?"

"I'm on it sir!" Came a singsong voice from the back catching Fenrir's attention, and after his card was returned and after a couple minutes had passed he was greeted by a young female wolf Faunus who smiled when she saw him.

She had stunning blue eyes and jet black hair tied in a neat bun with two wolf ears sticking out, her outfit he noticed was a more feminine version of what the front clerk had been wearing, the same grey vest over a dark blue long sleeved shirt and matching a pair of slacks that made her look professional yet approachable.

"Here you go sir," she said with a smile on her face handing Fenrir his case of dust munitions. "One light case of .38 special lightning and fire variants, and one fine grain whetstone. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Thinking about this Fenrir looked over his shoulder making sure that Winter and Morven were out of earshot before he asked in a low voice. "So your name is Lena right? What's it like working here in Atlas, do they treat you poorly and work you too hard?"

Raising her eyebrow in surprise Lena thought about it for a second before answering. "You know sometimes it really is hard work, long hours and sometimes late nights. But my boss is a understanding and caring guy, he only wants me to do my best so that's why he pushes me." Lena gave a small laugh as she realized why Fenrir was asking her these questions and said in a reassuring tone. "I know what you're thinking, because this is Atlas you expected that Faunus are being treated poorly because of the SDC's reputation huh? Well every once in awhile there will be those types of people you'll encounter but overall it isn't that bad, you just gotta wait and find out yourself."

"Hey Fen you about ready to go," came Yang's voice suddenly appearing beside him giving him a hard look before turning to Lena. "I'm sorry we have some stuff to do so I gotta take my friend here."

Lena blushed slightly and brushed a stray hair out of her face. "Oh I'm sorry." Turning back to Fenrir she smiled and slipped him a piece of paper, muttering a come again disappearing to back of the store before Fenrir could say another word. Looking at the paper he smiled realizing that she had just given him her number, the words she had said to him about Atlas still on his mind.

" _You just gotta wait and find out for yourself."_

"Fenrir are you ready go yet?" Morven asked snapping him from his thoughts, the Specialist stood patiently beside Yang holding a small case of his own giving the young wolf a puzzled look before continuing. "Well I was just notified by my mother that all the ingredients for tonight's meal have already been purchased and are awaiting us at home, and since a roast takes considerable time to prep and cook I suggest we head home now, that way that when our guests arrive the meal will be almost done."

Remembering his outburst about cooking Fenrir sighed and nodded, sliding Lena's number into his pocket and grabbing his case from the counter he gave Yang a little wave before following Morven out of the store. Moments later they were in a car headed back for the Kenrich estate, a quiet ride until breaking the silence with a slight smile on his face Morven asked.

"So you thought that girl was pretty cute huh?" Catching Fenrir off guard Morven looked back from the passenger seat and met Fenrir's irritated gaze with one of slight amusement, seeing how defensive the young wolf was getting about the girl roused his suspicion. Thinking a moment he then asked, "so did you at least get her number?"

About to tell Morven off for butting into his business Fenrir choked in surprise at the question, immediately realizing that he had just answered the Specialist without even uttering a word. Gritting his teeth Fenrir tersely asked, "so does anything get past you or do you see all Morven?" His voice dripping with irritation at the faint amusement in the man's eyes.

"Not if I can help it Mr. Argyros," Morven replied turning back to front. "Part of our job you'll learn is to observe all that goes on around us, to be constantly vigilant against the forces that move against us in this world."

"I told you to stop calling me that," Fenrir growled still looking at Morven. Despite that the Specialist was no longer looking him he couldn't help but feel that Morven was scrutinizing him still. "I said you can call me Fenrir, so go ahead and pull that stick out your ass and try to show some real emotion. Ok?"

" _Show some emotion huh?"_ Morven pondered internally sighing. His thoughts unconsciously shifting to Winter and the time they had spent together as partners and as children. "Hmmm perhaps you're right…" He trailed off surprising Fenrir.

Neither of them said another word the rest of the ride, both deep in their own thoughts till the car pulled up once again to the manor.

After navigating their way to the kitchen, the duo opened the door to reveal Serena and Lyla standing at the counter staring expectantly at them, though the feeling in the room drastically different from before. The look and demeanor of Lyla seeming much more intense as the two moved towards the counter.

"Alright boys," Lyla growled narrowing her eyes. "Time to get you to work."

 **Five hours of slaving away in the kitchen later**

Finally able to take a breather Fenrir sat back in a armchair and gave a sigh. Relieved that all the work for dinner was done he knew that he could relax for a bit now, in less than an hour the roast would finally be done and they'd be able to eat.

" _I actually had a good time,"_ he thought to his surprise thinking about the time he had just spent in the kitchen. It had been him, Morven, Serena, and Lyla all working on the meal together. Fenrir chuckled thinking of Lyla again, her character drastically changing to that of a task master as she ordered Morven around the kitchen while he worked quietly with Serena, the two of them preparing the rub for the roast before tackling the appetizers.

"Here's a drink Fenrir and thanks for your help," a quiet voice said coming from his left.

Turning he was met with a glass water and a friendly smile from Morven's mother who stood beside him, a kind motherly expression on her face as she gently shook the glass again.

"Oh thank you ma'am," Fenrir said taking the glass from her and downing it in two gulps. Turning his head he then noticed that Morven was nowhere to be found, assuming that he had probably went to the bathroom Fenrir decided to poke around a bit with some questions for the Specialists mother.

"If you don't mind me asking ma'am why does Morven always take his job so seriously? He's treated me far better than any human has and I still don't understand, so I figured I'd ask the person who knows him best."

Serena gave Fenrir a strange look before thinking about it herself, the memories of raising him bringing a slight smile to her face. "Well to be honest with you Fenrir my son has always been like that. The way I see it is that he has this idea that for the world to become a better place he must take it upon himself to actively help shape it, like it's his duty to be the best possible person he can be. That's why he treats you so well, because to be the best he can be, he has to help others be their best as well. If that makes any sense to you."

Fenrir frowned slightly as Serena spoke, all this time turned out that Morven wanted to make the world a better place, thinking about it now they aren't so different, Morven wanted to make the world a better place, while he wanted to create a world where human and Faunus could learn to coexist, _"Great now I feel like a complete moron, I shouldn't have lashed out on Morven the way I did if mom were here she would've given me one of her famous lectures. I'm starting to see now why people respect him so much,"_ a forlorn expression appeared on Fenrir's face at the thought of his mother something that didn't go unnoticed by Serena.

"I know you probably had your own idea about him when the two of you first met huh?" She asked catching the expression on the young wolf's face, shooting him a smile she then chuckled. "Well hopefully he's changed that opinion of yours a little just from your short stay with us so far."

"Well I did snap at him when we were at the academy, thinking back I kinda feel bad about it." For Fenrir if there was one thing he held in high regard it was his pride. Thinking on that Fenrir suddenly changed the subject. "I hope you don't mind me asking ma'am, but how much does Morven care about his honor?"

A concerned expression came across Serena's face at this and in a sad voice she muttered, "sometimes I worry that he cares to much about his honor. The belief my son puts in his aesthetics I fear will one day put him in harm's way, but until that day I can't ask him to stop." Staring into Fenrir's red eyes for a moment thinking she then asked. "Why do you ask this Fenrir, did something happen?"

Choosing his words carefully Fenrir looked at the older woman. "When we were at the Academy, during our sparring match but all he did was mock me, but when he went against the Schnee he instantly took out his sword and fought her like he was serious!" Clenching his fist remembering the humiliating defeat he suffered. "I just feel like he doesn't take me seriously just because I'm still a kid, something that infuriates me, just because I'm a kid doesn't mean he can look down on me!"

Realizing what the young wolf was getting at Serena couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle, seeing how Fenrir was getting slightly upset she quickly apologized before explaining why she laughed. "I'm sorry it's just I hadn't pegged you for the sensitive type Fenrir so I'm sorry for laughing. Please allow me to explain. So as you can tell our family has some history with the Schnee's, so to say Morven has a soft spot for Weiss would be an understatement. But also at first he was no harsher on you then he once was on her, actually to tell you the truth their first match ended with her in tears, the poor girl. The reason he is so hard and tries to get in your head is so that he can see how you'll react. Watching your responses to hardship and struggle of conflict gives him a better idea on how he'll have to teach you."

Fenrir couldn't help but feel annoyed at this answer and puffed his cheeks in frustration. _"Dammit of course,"_ he thought shaking his head. Recalling the promise Morven made to train him and piecing together what his mother had just told him, Fenrir finally began to see the big picture. _"You're certainly not making it easy on me but if what your mother says is true, then I guess you mean well."_

"Try to have some faith and trust in my son Fenrir, he did after all believe in you enough to stand up to the Council on your behalf." Serena reminded him in a motherly tone, the ding of the timer going off in the kitchen getting her attention. Giving Fenrir another smile Serena motioned for him to stay put, "don't worry Fenrir, Lyla and I will take care the final preparations for dinner you go ahead and relax for a bit longer."

Watching Serena return back to the kitchen Fenrir continued to sit for a moment longer before he heard the doorbell go off. Looking into the direction it of the main entrance it wasn't till the doorbell was rung a minute later when Serena called out from the kitchen, "Fenrir would you mind getting that please? It should be the girls finally getting here!"

"No problem ma'am!" Fenrir called back getting up, heading for the entrance he couldn't help but have feel a little happy that Yang was coming to dinner. _"She's one of the only humans to see beyond the fact that I'm a Faunus,"_ he thought as he approached the door smiling to himself slightly. _"And the fact she's really easy on the eyes is a bonus."_

Opening the door Fenrir froze suddenly meeting a pair of blue eyes. General Ironwood unlike the elderly man beside him seemed surprised that Fenrir was the one that answered the door, taking a second to gather his wits he then addressed Fenrir.

"Ah hello again and good evening Mr. Argyros, sorry to drop by unannounced but there was a recent development which I needed to speak to Yorath about, nothing you need to concern yourself so don't worry about it," he said reassuring the suspicious Faunus.

"And I'm just here to pay a surprise visit to my son and his family," the old man said giving Fenrir a friendly smile.

Hearing him speak and getting a better look at him Fenrir suddenly realized why he had seemed familiar, the old man he realized was the council elder that had been the final decision on his fate.

"Oh Fen-Fen, did you get the door already?" Came a sing-song from the kitchen. Walking out into the hallway Lyla made her way to the door greeting the two guests all the smirking at Fenrir.

Looking back at the busty maid, Fenrir gave her a mock glare before retorting with a smirk. "You know if I'm the one answering the door you must be doing something wrong Lyla." His gaze not leaving the General as he moved to the side allowing Ironwood and Gerade to enter.

After closing the door behind them Lyla took the General by the arm and said loudly, "Ms. Kenrich the General and head councilor Gerade are here! After I take the General to Mr. Kenrich would you like me to prepare two more seats at the table?"

"Don't worry about that Lyla, I've already taken care of it, could you please take James to my husbands study? I'll be right out in a second to see to my father in law." Serena called called. From the sound of her voice it sounded like she had her hands full.

Hearing that Gerade laughed and called back, "Serena dear don't worry! Take your time, I actually was hoping to have a minute to speak to Mr. Argyros here alone!"

On the outside Fenrir showed no fear other than tensing after those words had left the councilors mouth. _"Should I be worried?"_ He thought to himself thinking of the possibility that he would be thrown back into a holding cell.

Gerade looking at the young Faunus noticed how tense he was and gave Fenrir a kind smile. "There's no need to be nervous young man I'm not here to discuss anything particular with you, I actually wanted to meet you in person, after all we haven't really been introduced yet now have we?"

Feeling a wave of relief wash over him Fenrir pulled out two chairs, politely gesturing Gerade to sit. "Well that's a relief sir, the last thing I need is to get on the bad side of you higher up's, but if you don't mind me asking why do you want to talk with someone like me? Out of all the people he expected to mingle with, an Atlas councilor was the last person he expected.

"Well you see you were brought to my attention by my grandson, when I initially received word that the White Beast had been captured I was expecting someone a little more ferocious, Morven though explained to me what had transpired before you were taken into custody. That last bit of conversation you had with your brother." Gerade nodded sadly to himself before continuing. "And now with you being so cooperative with us I wanted to hear your thoughts on the matter, also see how you are adjusting to your new setting here with the family."

"I'll be honest with you, I have mixed feelings on that matter." Fenrir responded clenching his fists, the memory of Caius attempting to kill him still fresh in his mind. No matter how hard he wanted to give his brother the benefit of the doubt and say he was just following orders those last chilling words he said to him all but confirmed his fear.

His only brother had turned his back on him.

Regaining his composer Fenrir continued, "I have no other relatives left sir, my brother was the only family I had left before we joined the White Fang."

"Do you regret leaving the White Fang at all?" Gerade asked, his voice not accusing but genuinely curious, as if he wanted to know the real truth behind Fenrir's leave from the Fang.

"In a way yes, " Fenrir replied turning his gaze from Gerade thinking about his reason for even joining. "You see sir not everyone there were the savages that people made us out to be, the original purpose was to promote equality between human and Faunus."

The old man nodded his head thoughtfully at this, "yes yes I agree completely. The hatred on both the human and Faunus side of this issue will get us nowhere. Though I am curious that you didn't leave them sooner, I'm sure you've heard of the main faction out in Menagerie that is more on the peaceful side. My son Yorath on occasion goes down to negotiate with them and offer services from the company."

Fenrir raised an eyebrow in surprise, to hear about a human run company having business with Menagerie was unheard of. Thinking a moment on it he then asked, "so this business that your son does with them. What's the benefit that you all get?"

"Benefit? Ha ha, young man there doesn't always have to be a, what do I get out of it ending for a deal. In the case of dealing with Menagerie it's beneficial to both sides and used a symbol for our two races cooperating." Gerade gave Fenrir another friendly smile and gestured to him, "and weren't you saying that that's something that needs to be worked on?"

Fenrir gave the old man a perplexed look. Never had he expected to hear that a upper class family from Atlas was so generous. To him it seemed to good to be true and almost yelling said. "Wait you mean to tell me out of the goodness of your heart..." But he stopped right there, regaining his composure, his mind racing. _"Maybe he was wrong. Maybe just maybe, there were some humans who cared for his kin, perhaps peace and coexistence between human and Faunus wasn't that hard."_

"Well not me personally. My son after all was the youngest to inherit the business since I was selected for the council. To everyone's surprise actually that was one of the first big ventures he took the company on, right after getting married I would add." A grin appearing on his friendly face as he added quietly. "So soon after the marriage I stills suspect that it was originally her idea. No matter though the rest of our guests are arriving now so we should go get ready for the meal."

At that moment the doorbell rang again and to Fenrir's relief, this time it was Yang and the others at the door.

"Hey Fen aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Yang joked surprised that he was the one who answered. "Not that we aren't happy to see you, but how come you the one answering the door?" Out of all the people she expected to meet she didn't think the Faunus would be the one of them

"Well I had finished helping out with the cooking and Mrs. Kenrich said I could take a break." Fenrir replied blushing slightly while his tail swayed slowly at seeing the blonde.

" _Hmmm interesting,"_ Gerade thought to himself watching the young Faunus. A faint smile crossing his face as he of his own youth. _"Ahh to be young and in love. I wonder if Morven knows about this? No of course not, that boy still doesn't even know of his own feeling for Winter now."_ Giving a small laugh Gerade then excused himself and made his way to the kitchen leaving Fenrir with Yang and the two Schnee's.

Watching the old man head over to the kitchen Fenrir decided to take the girls over to the dining area, while they walked he couldn't help but feel he was being closely watched by the two Schnee's as him and Yang made small talk.

Out of the blue Yang suddenly asked, "hey what were you talking about with that girl at the shop? The two of you seemed to be having an interesting little talk."

Her voice seemed light and perfectly normal, but both Winter and Weiss caught the faintest hint of an edge in her voice. Fenrir on the other hand gave a little chuckle and shook his head.

"Oh that, yeah it was nothing really Yang. I was asking a bit about what it's like living in Atlas." Fenrir reassured her unaware of what the blonde was implying. "I saw she was a Faunus so I couldn't help but ask her about how she was treated here."

"Hmm, ok I can see why you'd be curious about that," Yang muttered reasoning with herself the wolves conversation with his fellow Faunus. The two of them continued to chat unaware that the two Schnee's had fallen behind and started whispering amongst themselves.

"I wouldn't have guessed that Yang would already be so territorial of her little pet," Weiss whispered to her sister smirking. The way that Yang had worded her question making it obvious to her that whether the blonde realized it or not, she was already revealing an unconscious interest in Fenrir.

"Ridiculous how she'd allow herself to get like that," Winter said rolling her eyes, about to continue when she caught sight of her sister silently laughing. Stopping and placing her hands on her hips Winter accusingly looked at her, waiting for an explanation.

Laughing for a bit longer at her sister Weiss looked up at Winter and teased, "oh yeah you're one to talk Winter. I saw that look you had back at the academy when Morven was talking to Zoe, you're no better than Yang at this point Winter."

Opening her mouth Winter froze, her face red from embarrassment she looked away from her sister who struggled to hold back a snicker.

" _Oh no she's right, and if Morven noticed that I'd die embarrassment,"_ Winter thought, her face still flustered as Yang and Fenrir moved to open the door to the dining area.

"Fen-Fen!" Came a childish voice as the door opened getting Fenrir's attention, looking he saw getting up from his seat at the table Garreth running over to him.

"Hey kid," Fenrir said in a somewhat embarrassed tone, giving Garreth a smile before patting the young boy on his head. "Don't call me that in front of other people it's embarrassing." To the surprise Yang and the two Schnee's, he sounded much like an older brother gently scolding his little brother, as strange, as it sounded the Faunus couldn't help but chuckle.

"Fen-Fen huh?" Yang snorted holding in her laughter, "the name rolls off the tongue, Fen-Fen." Shooting the young wolf a wink who shook his head at her taunting.

" _Oh great, it was bad enough with Lyla coming up with that nickname and I don't mind the kid, but now she's calling me that."_ Fenrir rolled his eyes at the blonde and muttered, "give me some time and I'll find you an annoying nickname too Yang, just you wait."

"Is that a threat?" Yang taunted before bending down and giving the newcomer a friendly smile and holding out her hand. "Hi there little guy, I'm Yang. It's nice to meet you."

Moving to partially hide behind Fenrir at first, Garreth shyly smiled and came out and shook Yang's hand.

"Hel-hello Yang," he stuttered nervously quickly releasing her hand, retreating back behind Fenrir before noticing the two behind Yang. "Big sis Winter! Big sis Weiss!"

Completely forgetting how nervous he was just a second earlier, Garreth ran out from behind Fenrir and hugged a blushing Winter around the waist.

"Hey you can't just go around calling me that!" Winter cried out fidgeting in an embarrassed fashion, mumbling to herself. "Morven and I aren't married… We aren't even dating. Calling me that is so embarrassing."

Watching Winter fidget and mutter to herself in that embarrassed fashion, Fenrir let out a snort of laughter snapping her out of thoughts.

"And what's so funny dog?" Winter snapped glaring at Fenrir, the amused look on his face for some reason irritating her even more than usual.

"Oh nothing Schnee." Fenrir shot back, narrowing his eyes at her dog comment before allowing another smirk to cross his face.

" _You care so much about Morven's opinion, huh Winter? Just hearing you now makes me think what you would want more then anything is to just settle down with him, to get that fairy tale ending and live happily ever after with the man you fell for. I don't know what pisses me off more, that fact it makes you happy or the fact that Morven's dumbass doesn't see it. I mean seriously, how blind is that guy?"_

"You know you can't blame him for laughing at you Winter," Weiss reasoned surprising everyone. Seeing the multitude of strange looks everyone was giving her, the younger Schnee shook her head and then pointed at her sister. "I know the wolf already caught it by now Winter but I'm telling you this now, your behaviour and attitude when around Morven is very different from the working Winter that everyone knows. It's not a bad thing, it's just very noticeable."

"Tsk." Winter exhaled angrily and shot Weiss and Fenrir an annoyed glare before looking at Yang, a confused expression dotting her face as well. Changing the look she gave the blonde to one of questioning as she waited for a response, staring at Yang intently.

"What's that look for Winter?" Yang asked in a confused voice meeting the eldest Schnee's icy blue eyes.

After a moment of thinking Winter finally replied. "I want your opinion Yang, do I really seem that different with Morven around or with him being brought up?"

Yang could feel the slight tension in Winter as she asked this and had to stop and think about it. "Well, I haven't really known you and Morven very long." Yang started, her hand unconsciously rubbing her chin as she searched for the right words. "The way I see it, I can tell you have a lot of respect and care deeply for him. In a sense to say that for you, being around him is like a safe space where the judgment of others doesn't bother you as much."

Looking back again at Winter, she watched the older Schnee nod her head thoughtfully and give a quiet thank you while Weiss wore the most astonished look on her face that Yang had ever seen.

"Who are you and what have you done with Yang?" Weiss muttered staring at the blonde like she had grown a second head. This bout of deep insight unexpectedly coming from Yang shocking her to the point she could only assume, someone had replaced Yang.

Seeing the expression on Weiss's face Yang couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous her teammate had sounded.

"Really Weiss, that's hilarious. Although I am a little hurt," Yang teased exaggerating a hurt expression. "Believe it or not I can be serious about things too."

"And that's a very good thing to have Ms. Xiao-long."

Everyone turned in surprise to see Morven standing Winter, his eyes moving from her and his brother to Weiss and Fenrir, before finally stopping on Yang, who for some reason tensed up when she felt his gaze move to her. Giving her a reassuring smile Morven then turned his gaze to the rest of the group.

"Alright, I hope everyone has an appetite since Fenrir and the lot of us have been slaving away in the kitchen. So let's all head to the dining hall and eat alright."

The gathered party all nodded in agreement at this and proceeded the rest of the way to the dining hall, where right outside they found General Ironwood as well as Yorath and his father waiting for them.

"Ahh there's the rest of our guests," Yorath said nodding to his sons and the others, a fatherly smile crossing his tired face. "The food smells delicious. Morven, Fenrir. I'm looking forward to enjoying the meal you helped prepare."

"It wasn't too much trouble sir," Fenrir replied turning to look at Morven. "I had a good time as well, it's been awhile since I've had the chance to work in a kitchen again. Not to mention laugh at Morven over here getting chewed out by Lyla, so I'll take that as reward enough." A smirk appearing on the young wolves face.

Yorath chuckled and moved to his son's side patting him on the back, "well that's because Morven here knows better than to argue with her. Lyla is despite her age, just as feisty as some of the younger ladies who have courted my boy here."

"Father please, I'd rather not talk about that right now." Morven said deliberately looking away from Winter, her flushed cheeks indicating that a nerve was struck with that comment. "Anyway dinner should be done by now so let us all sit down and celebrate, after all this meal is to welcome the two newest members of our family now."

The gathered party hearing this all turned to Yang and Fenrir, their faces shining with approval and praise.

"Yeah thanks everyone," Fenrir muttered breaking eye contact while Yang blushed slightly at all the attention. Standing there awkwardly Fenrir coughed and shot Morven a look that said, "hey man could use a little help here."

With a small smile playing across his face, Morven gave the young wolf an almost imperceptible nod. "Alright everyone," he said confidently getting their attention. "I know we all want to welcome them in, but we have a large meal to eat so let's save that for later."

"I agree," Yorath said chipping in, clapping his eldest on the shoulder. "Now let's get a move on everyone, I'm starving over here." Leading the way and opening the dining hall door everyone made their way to the table and began seating themselves.

Yorath as head of the house sat at the head of the table with his wife on his left and his heir, Floyd. Fenrir had heard the name several times by this point, but hadn't seen the new heir to the family business till now. He could see that Floyd had the same ash grey hair hair as his father and younger brother as well as the light brown eyes the three of them shared.

" _So strange that how different Morven is from his brothers and father, yet with his mother…"_ His eyes shifting to Serena, noting again the similarities between her and her eldest son.

"Hello, earth to Fen are you ok?"

Fenrir shook his head and found Yang staring into his eyes, a mischievous expression on her face as she poked at him.

"Yeah yeah I'm fine," Fenrir muttered brushing her off before looking again for his own seat, a silly sort of grin crossing his face as he spotted Garreth patting the chair next to him. "I was just looking for my seat, looks like it's right across from yours if I'm not mistaken Yang."

Hearing this Yang gave Fenrir another smile and made her way to her own seat while the remaining few standing sat as well, with that the doors opened and several maids and butlers entered, each setting a plate before their respective guest before silently exiting the room, leaving only a single maid standing by.

"Alright now let's do this right everyone," Yorath said rising to his feet and raising a glass. "A welcoming toast to our guests and new friends. May these times for us last and be remembered."

Raising their glasses everyone smiled and repeated the toast while Yang and Fenrir awkwardly stood there at the center of everyone's attention before quickly sitting down and starting to eat.

For Fenrir, having only had one meal with the Kenrich family, he still felt a little out of place as on his left Morven, the General and Winter began discussing current events within Atlas, while On his right Yorath was drawn into a business discussion with Floyd and Serena. Raising his eyes to look across the table he found to his disappointment that even Yang was engaged in a conversation with both Lyla and Weiss.

Sighing heavily he turned back to his food when he felt a tug on his sleeve. Turning he saw a sad sort of understanding on Garreth's face. Giving the boy a reassuring smile Fenrir ruffled his hair and told him not to worry about it, digging back into the meal before him.

Having watched Fenrir from the corner of his eye for awhile now, Gerade decided to reach out and try and engage the young Faunus again. Asking first about the meal, complimenting on how well it turned out.

As time passed and the meal progressed though, Fenrir eventually found himself conversing more with the old man. Gerade he found was an interesting man. No real poking or inquiries into his life in the Fang, but rather the two made small talk about everyday things. From how lately the weather had seemed to be getting colder, to favorite foods and dishes.

Fenrir could almost feel completely at ease.

As the meal winded down and the guests made their way to leave, Ironwood approached Fenrir. Looking him in the eye for a moment he then extended his hand in a gesture of goodwill and firmly shook his hand.

"I know you're still unsure about this whole situation Mr. Argyros," Ironwood said releasing his hand and crossing his own. "But you are in good hands. Morven believes in you, and he has my absolute trust which is not given lightly. Whatever he sees in you, I hope you end up seeing it too"

Nodding silently in agreement Fenrir turned slightly and caught sight of Morven still watching him out of the corner of his eye. As expected his face was devoid of any obvious emotion aside from a slight smile as he bid the General and his Grandfather goodbye.

After watching the two older gentlemen bid their final farewells again and finally leave, Fenrir turned to find Winter, Weiss and Yang speaking again with Serena. The older woman he caught teasing Winter.

"You know Winter, we have a couple extra guest rooms available. But we are fine if you want to stay with Morven in his room, just as long as they keep the noise to a minimum."

Immediately Winter blushed at this, coughing heavily while both her sister and Yang erupted into a fit of laughter while Morven, who also heard his mother's comment turned red as well. With his eyes awkwardly meeting Winters he quickly looked away mumbling something about it being the same as when they are in the field together.

Holding in a laugh Fenrir coughed and turned away from them. Trying to hide a smile that threatened to show itself. Fenrir thought again of the feelings towards this group of people that had taken him in.

" _No!"_ He thought sharply shaking the thought from his mind at the mention of family, the smile slowly leaving his face as he was once again reminded of his own flesh and blood turning a blade against him. The memory causing him to clench his fist. _"If blood went as far as to kill me why wouldn't this new family…?"_ The word now leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

Waiting till everyone was done laughing at the two Specialists, Fenrir then excused himself claiming he needed some air before bed and walked outside, the crisp night air chilling him slightly as he walked out into the garden ignoring the concerned looks everyone gave him.

It was a clear night out at this point and Fen couldn't help but stare up at the shattered moon hanging in the sky and sigh.

Ten minutes passed

"It's still hard to grasp how things have changed for you, hasn't it Fenrir?" Came Morven's voice from behind, the Specialists silence no longer surprising him.

Not even turning, Fenrir muttered. "This is nothing I could have ever expected Morven. But then again life has a funny way of surprising you with the unexpected wouldn't you say?"

Pausing and considering what Fenrir was saying, Morven nodded in understanding. After a minute of consideration an idea came to mind that maybe would help reassure his young ward. Gesturing for Fenrir to follow him, Morven turned and began making his way towards a stone structure in the center of the garden.

Upon moving closer, it was are clear that the structure was the entrance to what Fen could only assume was a large crypt. The same symbol which he had recently learned as the Kenrich family crest, were etched into the stones doors along with some faded writing that he couldn't make out.

"In the end, even our deeds are not forgotten. We live with honor. Act with courage. And die with pride knowing we will never be forgotten. The first written record of a Kenrich was this cry," Morven said pushing the doors open with a grunt.

Pulling a torch off the wall and lightning it he turned back to Fenrir. "Before the final battle that staked the kingdom of Atlas on the map, my ancestor formed a house of knights bound by strength and honor to fight for the old king. Now all that remains is the legacy he left and what's in the history books."

"What happened to the knights?" Fen asked quietly walking beside Morven staring at the various tombs within the crypt. Each of them decorated with a life sized stone carving of what Fen could only assume, was how they looked in life.

"The knights did what all men do. Fulfill their purpose as knights, grow old and pass the Duty on before finally dying." His last words taking a somber tone as he stopped before the last tomb raising the torch higher.

Fen looked up at the statue, his eyes widening at the size of not only the man, but the sword propped against him.

"Albion Kenrich. He was a monster of a man," Morven chuckled noticing Fenrir's reaction at the sight of the statue, a look of admiration crossing his face as he placed his hand against the stone blade sighing. "It was why he was nicknamed the Colossus by his fellow knights. One of my favorite stories in our family is about how he stopped a charging Goliath with his bare hands proving the strength of his loyalty to the king."

"There's no fucking way," Fen muttered, voice wavering slightly as he looked at Albion's statue again trying to doubt what he had just heard. Still though, the representation of him seemed larger than life.

"Fen. The reason I brought you down here is because I want you to know that no matter what you think of me, I am on your side. Like how Albion Kenrich pledged his loyalty and services to the king and kingdom, I pledge the same to you. My ward and comrade, all I ask in return is that you trust me. Deal?"

There was a long moment of silence between the two and Fen couldn't help but awkwardly chuckle to break the silence. More and more about this man before him seemed to be revealed as they spoke, and yet at the same time he had more questions to ask.

It was infuriating and yet satisfying at the same time forcing Fen to shoot Morven an annoyed smile.

"Geez Morven you are so serious you know. I used to think I was pretty good at reading people and figuring out what their motives were. But you… You are something else entirely. I might not trust Atlas, and I might not trust the rest of this team yet, but I'll trust you. Cause after everything you've done for me, I'd say you've earned that much at least."

Nodding his head in thanks Morven then held out his hand, and in a gesture of trust Fenrir grasped it back, the two staring at each other eye to eye. Both feeling that this was the beginning of something neither of them first expected.

Feeling that they were done now Morven led the way back up to the surface. Upon exiting the crypt they spotted Winter and Yang up on the balcony waiting, a look of slight embarrassment on the Schnee's face while Yang wore a smug grin.

"Morven, your mother insisted that Yang and I stay the night and she wouldn't take no for an answer." Her voice faltering slightly thinking about the exact words.

"We have another guest room set up for Yang though it only has one bed. Don't worry though Winter dear, you should know Morven's bed is big enough for the both of you."

" _Why must she tease me like this?"_ Winter thought her face flushing an even brighter pink. _"I know she's always approved of Morven and I. But to tell me that she wants grandkids this soon is too much, I mean Morven and I aren't even…"_

"You should know you are more than welcome to stay with us at any Winter," Morven said flashing her a friendly smile snapping her back to reality, noticing the change his smile then turned to a look of suspicion.

Knowing his mother he knew there were ulterior motives, and judging from Winter's flustered expression it was clear that his mother had said something to her. Internally shaking his head in amusement to his mother's meddling he turned again to Fen and gave him a nod kindly patting the young Faunus on the back.

"Well I suggest you get some sleep now Fen. While we aren't getting up as early, you should expect a extended day of training tomorrow. From our fight you showed great promise in adaptability to situations you ended up in, and with training you'll become even more versed in sizing up a situation and dealing with it accordingly."

At the sound of those words Fen couldn't help but grin again, his fangs bared slightly as he met Morven's serious gaze. "Alright Morven I'll see you in the morning. And don't worry, I'll be ready for whatever you have in store. We both will."

"We'll see Fen."

 **AN: Man what a chapter not only did we learn more on Morven family history but also Fenrir is beginning to adapt to his little predicament and trust humans. Now we apologize if this one took a bit longer to finish are personal lives got in the way but we'll try to post more frequently.**

 **You guys know the drill R & R and let us know what you thought till next time this is Keeper of The One Winged Angel logging out. **


	6. Chapter 6

At The Edge Of Darkness

Made possible by the joint efforts of Keeper Of The One Winged Angel and TheBoredBoot

AN: And so after who knows how long, my partner and I have returned with yet another chapter for the masses. I apologize a thousand for the wait, but since writing isn't my source of income I have had to focus a good amount of time in my real life working to bring home the bacon, both literally and metaphorically speaking. Now anyways without further adieu, new readers and old alike please enjoy the latest piece of At the Edge of Darkness.

Also on another note, a big thank you to my good buddy Forlornsage for helping us out with some last minute editing. If any of you have a taste for stories from Skyrim or Destiny, I highly recommend you look him up.

Chapter 6

"All growth depends upon activity. There is no physically or intellectually without effort, and effort means work."

: Calvin Coolidge

 **At the Kenrich Estate**

The sun was shining brightly through the white curtains of his bedroom when a rustle in his own bed roused him.

Morven's eyes snapped open as he felt a slight shift in the bed beside him, not a hostile motion he noted immediately identifying the culprit before sighing heavily. A slight smile appearing on his face. Compared to being elegant and composed, Winter while she was asleep was a different case.

Her normally neat white hair, done up in a bun was all over the place, a thin line of drool pooling from the corner of her mouth was visible, and if you listened carefully one could hear the slight snore coming from her as she shifted slightly from her spread eagle position beside him, her hand coming to a rest on his chest while the other absently scratched her stomach.

Morven could feel his cheeks warm slightly the longer he stared at her, and while this wasn't the first time he found himself in this situation, it still was a surprise nonetheless.

As if his staring had signaled her, Winter's piercing blue eyes fluttered for a second before opening up slightly giving her a dazed sort of expression that turned into a big sleepy smile.

Clearly she was still asleep for the most part.

"Oh. Good morning handsome," Winter yawned stretching out slowly, the movement causing nightgown she borrowed from Morven's mother to ride up slightly exposing the creamy white skin of her thighs.

" _3...2...1…"_ Morven thought to himself averting his eyes, though still catching a glimpse of Winter's face going beet red as she snatched up the blanket covering herself.

Moving up and out of the bed, Morven gave his partner a friendly smile trying to put her back at ease. "Good morning Winter. How'd you sleep?"

Opening her mouth Winter couldn't will the words to come out, instead she retreated further under the blanket and went still as if trying to pretend she wasn't there, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Winter please don't worry about it," Morven chided in a reassuring tone, pausing only to pull a shirt on before continuing. "You can take your time getting up, just remember Yang is going to be training with you today while Fen and I are working on our Aura training."

At the mention of the wolf Faunus Winter's eyes narrowed again, scoffing she turned away and let out a sigh of annoyance which wasn't missed by her partner.

Giving a sigh of his own Morven climbed back onto his bed ignoring Winters blush as he gently took her hands in his and looked into her eyes.

"I know how you feel about him still, and in a sense you have every right to feel that way. But after our talk I believe we have reached an understanding with each other. He'll trust and work with us. I just ask you to trust me on this too alright. Can you do that for me?"

Looking into Morven's warm gold flecked eyes Winter slowly nodded. "Alright Morven, I'll try." Gently squeezing his hand one last time before he released hers and exited the room. After the door closed behind him, Winter flopped back onto the bed and closed her eyes sighing heavily.

" _This is going to be harder than I thought."_

 **Later that afternoon**

Fenrir gasped loudly as the open palm strike once again knocked him down, the air knocked from his lungs as he impacted against the hardwood floor several meters from where he first stood.

After going through warming up exercises, Morven and Fenrir dropped their weapons and began exchanging blows via hand to hand, though twenty minutes in, it was clear that it wasn't Fenrir's strong point.

" _Hmmm, maybe I put a bit to much into that strike."_ Morven thought with a slight frown, watching his ward cough and gasp before struggling back to his feet.

"Damn you pack some power behind those hits," Fen coughed between breaths. His tone one of frustration while his face held of a look of aspiration as he stared at Morven, his hand tenderly rubbing his sore chest. "Could you explain to me again why you had us lower our protective Auras, cause if I'm going to get smacked around this hard for a while I'd like to have some cushioning thank you very much."

Shaking his head, Morven gave Fen a friendly smile. "Well, like I said earlier, our Aura is down for the sole purpose of allowing our bodies to take the full brunt of each others attacks to harden your nerves, that'll teach your body to fight through the pain."

"I don't think this will help a whole lot against the Grimm though, I mean who fights those monsters like this anyway?" Looking at Morven, Fenrir gave a shrug of honest confusion before smirking slightly.

"As far as fighting against the Grimm, you are more than capable of dealing with most of them. These skills however you'll find to be of much more use against our other enemies."

At the mention of their other enemies, Fenrir broke eye contact for a split second. "I'm assuming that you're talking about the Fang right?"

Locking eyes with Fen again Morven nodded slowly. "Yes they are a part of it, but there are other groups out there that pose a threat as well, and when they strike we need to be ready to stop them, That is after all why your here now is it not?"

The change in Morvens tone sent a chill down Fens spine, but before he could even respond the distance between them was closed and Morven was behind him in a instant. Flinching and closing his eyes, the hit that he expected never came and instead felt a gentle hand fall upon his shoulder.

"You don't have to answer that now Fen, just think on it and tell me later down the road. For now we will build up your strength, for I see you doing great things in the future. Now…!" With the same speed he demonstrated earlier Morven appeared on the other side of the room from Fen and assuming a defensive stance gestured for the young Faunus to begin. "Let's take it again from the top."

By the end of the day despite being sweaty, sore all over and dead tired, Young Fenrir couldn't help but feel fairly content about the days events. Irritated yes because he couldn't land a hit, still he grudgingly couldn't help but admire the Specialist's skill. _"And to think this is only the first day of training,"_ Fenrir thought going over what had happened with a slight shudder of anticipation. _"We have a provisional training period of at least a month before authorization of our first mission, then after that it's anyone's guess what we could be doing based solely on how the first mission even goes."_

Out of the blue a knock came from his door surprising him. "Master Fenrir I was told to inform you that dinner will be served within the hour in the dining hall," came Lylas voice from behind his closed door. "Also master Morven asked me to bring you a couple items which he believes will help you with your training."

"Alright then, please bring whatever Morven wanted to give me," Fenrir replied raising an eyebrow in interest watching as Lyla entered his room and approach him slowly before depositing what appeared to be a heavy box on the ground by his desk.

"Here you go master Fenrir, now the instructions Master Morven left for these: at any time besides sleeping you will wear these muscle restraints that way you can have continuous muscle building in everyday, It's actually been awhile since I've seen him care so much about this to be honest, he must really think highly of you." Lyla said giving Fen a friendly smile.

The young Faunus was about question the maid but then realised that ever since arriving at his new leaders estate he never asked about her relationship with a well known family such as the Kenrich. "Before I ask you about that, I've noticed how you act so cheerful around them, I kinda figured that you would hate serving humans but yet your always acting so carefree around them if you don't mind me asking but what's the story?"

Hearing this Lyla paused momentarily and put a finger to her mouth as if in deep thought. "Well while it is true that a decently sized group of humans look down upon the Faunus, so I can understand your reasoning for thinking that. Here though you don't have to worry about that at all, they judge based on character which is far more important."

Hearing this Fenrir gave the scaled woman a small smile, with how kind Serena has been towards him so far it now began to make sense to him why she didn't mind working here. Still he couldn't shake off the feeling that there was more to it than just the fact the Kenrich were benevolent employers, "so besides that how the hell did you end up in their service's then? Was it a job you were looking for or does it have to do with the other Faunus in the House?"

Lyla paused at Fenrir's question, the expression on her face indicating she wanted to choose her words carefully yet wished not to hide anything from her fellow Faunus. "Well, so you know, even before she married Master Kenrich, I had been in the service of Lady Serena for many years already, and though while professionally I am the head maid and the wet nurse of her children, I am honored to be able to say that I am one of my Ladies closest friends."

Fenrir's had a surprised expression after hearing that, he had no idea that she'd worked for the family that long, "damn I had no idea it was that long. So you know them on a personal level?" He asked suddenly sitting up from them the bed looking the maid dead in her eyes.

Fidgeting slightly Lyla nodded. "For the most part I assisted in some special teaching for Master Morven when he was younger, and after the birth of his two brothers I raised them alongside his mother when their father was busy, I see them almost as my own children to be honest and I love each of them dearly." A loving smile crossing Lyla's face at the memories she had of the young boys growing up.

Fenrir couldn't help but smile at the love the snake Faunus had for the Kenrich boys, he couldn't help but be reminded of his mother and how protective she was of him. "You know listening to you reminds me of my mom. she has such a big heart and loved both my brother Caius and I."

"Caius huh," Lyla fell silent for a moment with a indescribable expression flashing across her face before she continued. "That's your older brother right? The one who is still with the White Fang, I'm truly sorry to hear about the falling out between the two of you. You know, if you ever need someone to talk to about that you can always call on me or Master Morven. It is my duty to assist the members of the house, but I know just from what he's done for you so far, Master Morven cares about you Master Fenrir. You don't have to be alone any more."

Fenrir had to admit that the busty maid had a point Morven could've left him to the mercy the Atlas Council. But instead not only did he stand by his side but openly defended him. Even going as far as to put his standing on the line, something the young Faunus hadn't expected from an Atlas Specialist, let alone a highborn. "Thanks for the kind words Lyla I really appreciate it and be sure to tell Morven I said thanks."

Lyla flashed another friendly smile and bowed her head exiting the room, "don't be afraid to tell him yourself Master Fenrir." She whispered quietly making her way back to her quarters, a question weighing heavily on her mind. While it couldn't have been more than a pure coincidence still Lyla knew just for peace of mind she'd have to look into it.

Watching the maid close his door Fenrir let out a heavy sigh and went to check what she had dropped off. Opening the box he was surprised to only find two simple black bracelets with a letter attached to one of them.

~Fen. At all times after this point make sure to wear these to help build up your strength. It will be awhile but I guarantee we'll see results.~

" _Huh weird, Lyla said muscle restraints so I figured it would be something else a bit more extreme then just…"_ Reaching out to pick one up Fenrir froze when he felt the bracelets actual weight. In all honesty it wasn't too heavy, just the appearance of such a simple accessory and the weight didn't match up catching him off guard. "It must be gravity dust then," he muttered slipping on one then the other bracelet feeling the affects immediately gritting his teeth slightly as the feeling of supporting his own weight grew even more noticeable. "Yup these are definitely infused with gravity dust, must be refined dust too by the feel of it."

Examining the bracelets one last time Fenrir gave a shrug and went back to readying himself for dinner, after a quick shower and with well over forty minutes before he needed to head down he decided to take some time to relax. Pulling out his new scroll Fenrir donned his headphones and stretched out on his bed and began searching for music, rebuilding his playlist from scratch was no easy feat but by the time Garreth knocked on his door for dinner he had them set back up.

"So how's the training with my brother going Mr. Wolf?" Garreth asked as the two of them made their way to the dining hall, his interest surprising Fen who gave a half shrug response.

"Well it's only the end of first day and already I'm sore as hell, and from these little pieces right here." Fenrir muttered gesturing to the bracelets he was given, "it's only going to get harder."

"Well of course it is, my brother just wants to make you strong enough so he doesn't have to worry about you." Giving a innocent smile that was almost too much for Fen. "He offered to train me a little but Lyla said I'm too young, and if he tried behind her back she'd beat him up."

Fen chuckled for a moment before realizing that Garreth was serious and gave him a incredulous look. "Wait are you saying that she could beat him? I though Morven was one of the best or something?"

After pausing for a moment to think Garreth gave a little laugh, "oh my brother is strong, stronger than even he knows. He just has a soft spot for her though, when he was younger he apparently had a crush on her. It's the reason why he can't say no to her."

"Wait… he had a crush, on Lyla?" Fenrir could hardly process this information and just shook his head but couldn't ask another. _"Man personal life here for these people is more confusing than I thought it would be, but I guess it's going to be my life too. At least for awhile anyway."_ Before he could ask another question they were at the dining hall, making a note to ask about that later Fen smiled and thanked them for the meal before digging in.

While the family ate no one was surprised at the ravenous appetite the Fenrir had developed, the only comment that was made was from Serena, who gently asked if her eldest was working him too hard. Fen couldn't help but reply with a smile, "Don't worry ma'am it's nothing I can't handle."

Frowning slightly at her son before looking back at Fenrir she nodded slowly, "that's fine and all dear but please don't push yourself too hard and hurt yourself, and you better be careful with whatever your having him do." The last she directed at Morven who gave his mother a sheepish look.

"He is strong and has potential mother, I know you've seen it in him." Morven muttered giving Serena a strange look to which she blanched slightly before coughing, quickly changing the subject to talk of an invitation the family had received from the Schnee's regarding a charity ball they were hosting in several months for what had happened in Vale.

"Oh yeah regarding that mother, I've already spoken with Jacque a little bit about a request he asked of me. While of course our family is invited as honored guests he personally asked if I would be willing to help with security during the ball."

Something about that for some reason had peeked Fenrir's interest, but rather then ask about it he remained silent and continued to eat listening in. The talk of attending the Schnee ball normally would leave a sour taste in his mouth but his first thoughts were seeing Yang at the ball. He knew she was a guest staying there so it would only be natural that she would be in attendance as well. _"Wait why have I been thinking about Yang so much, yea she's a very gorgeous girl but there's no way that she be interested in someone like me especially after all the things I did back with the White Fang."_

Wiping his face with a napkin and getting to his feet Morven excused himself from the table and made his way to the exit pausing a moment to look at Fen. "Remember to get a good night's sleep Fen, today we were taking it a bit easy since it was only the first day. Remember though we have a lot to cover and only a month before we can go on our first mission."

The young wolf wouldn't admit it out loud but part him was excited to keep training with someone as strong as Morven for the next month, it was another chance to prove himself to not only Morven but to also find a purpose in him being here. With his second plate of food cleared Fenrir thanked Serena again for her hospitality before excusing himself as well. Making his way back to his room Fenrir changed into his sleepwear and made his way to bed he stopped and stared into the mirror, almost in a reminiscent kind of way. "Well mother I guess this is what you meant when you said to follow my own path," he whispered gently to himself crawling into bed. The fatigue combined with the feeling of a full belly making him drowsy. "Don't worry I'll do my best to make you proud and find my own place in the world."

 **One month later**

Fen couldn't help but sigh with boredom as he sat quietly waiting for Morven to return, the Specialist apologized before leaving him alone in the conference room to answer a summons he had received. Looking around at the other chairs he couldn't help but feel a little relieved , while the past month had been not only been physically and mentally exhausting, time had seemed to fly by. Each day Morven had seemed to push Fen even further up until the last week he had him finally remove the gravity bands he had grown so used to wearing.

Clenching his fist Fen grinned to himself at the memory, even though he was the one who was experiencing it he still almost couldn't believe it. He felt so strong, so light, a subtle training he wasn't even aware had been happening twenty four hours a day, seven days a week for the past month had paid off.

Hearing footsteps approaching Fen looked up expecting Morven to return and instead found himself staring into the violet eyes of Yang Xiao Long who immediately smiled at the sight of him.

"Hey Fen. It's been awhile, how are you?" She asked hopping into the seat beside him immediately kicking her feet up.

" _Huh she's alone,"_ Fenrir noted before replying. "Oh hey blondie what's up? I'm doing fine, so far it's been a good morning. What about you? I haven't seen you since that first day you and Winter came by for dinner, and speaking of the Ice Queen where is she anyway?"

"Winter, oh she ran into that tech guy I think his name was Ernest." Yang said with a nonchalant shrug. "Anyway she told me to make my way here and meet up with you and Morven so we could wait for this mission briefing, but I see it's just you here so where did Morven go?"

Unconsciously Fens tail stiffened in an irritated snap at Yang's question about Morven as he rolled his eyes. "No idea firecracker, you forget that he's my keeper not the other way around, all I know is he got called over the intercom for something. He said he'd be right back so I guess we can just chill here and wait for them to come back."

"Yeah I guess you're right," Yang said with a shrug before a slight expression of nervousness crossed her face, her voice falling to a whisper as she asked. "Hey so what do you think this mission is going to be, something big? On our way in here I saw a lot of soldiers gearing up like something was about to happen, I don't know why but it makes me a bit nervous."

"Well I don't know all the details myself, I tried asking Morven about it but he said it was nothing I had to concern myself with and said he'll explain everything once he arrives with the Ice Queen." Fenrir responded with a understanding look in his eye as he was also feeling a bit nervous about going on his first official atlas mission and couldn't shake the uneasy feelings he was getting even though he wouldn't show it.

"But you think it's a part of the mission we are going on or is it something else entirely, I mean I've been on one actual mission before back when I was attending Beacon but going on a actual military operation," Yang shrugged and shook her head. "I have no idea what we'd even end up doing."

"Well as for military operations that's something they can teach you another time," came a voice from behind them.

Yang andFenrir both jumped in surprise and turned to find the General standing in the doorway flanked by both of their mentors. "Good afternoon everyone."

"Good morning Sir," both of them replied with a stammer, awkwardly not knowing what else to do.

Giving the two of them a nod the remaining three took their seats as the General pulled out his scroll and tapped rapidly on it before turning on the holo-pad on the table. "Alright everyone here's the mission," he started pointing to the map that sprang up. "Approximately one month ago an outpost in the northern sector of the continent went dark. Normally there are periods where we lose the signal due to inclement weather, and while it's true the weather this year has been abnormal to say the least, we can confirm something has happened to the outpost."

"How do we know something happened?" Yang and Fen asked at the same time surprising each other but then playing it off while the Ironwood raised an eyebrow. "Well to put it simply, the last signal we received was actually an SOS before the system itself went down. While the nature of the SOS is unknown we have two possibilities: One is that there was a drastic mechanical system failure that the personnel couldn't repair."

"And what about the other?" Fen asked meeting the Generals gaze. An idea already in his mind of what it could be, but still he wanted to hear it for himself from the General.

"The other, though small is the possibility that there was an attack on the outpost, probably by the Grimm that can be found outside the more populated areas."

"What about the Fang? Is it a possibility that could've attacked the outpost?"Fenrir asked, this time turning to Morven who gave him a questioning look yet remained silent.

"For the Fang it's unlikely, most air vehicles actually can't fly that far north so we are limited to special ground transports when traveling to the northern outposts. This leads to our next point," tapping his scroll again the map in the center of the table was now replaced with an image of a large armored transport vehicle. "This right here will be your transport to the mission area, additional personnel supporting you will be a mechanic doubling as a driver for the transport as well as a secondary team on standby. They will have standing orders to head to your last known position should your team not return within a week."

"What's our timeline looking like sir?" Morven asked speaking for the first time since the meeting had started.

"The team will be pushing out in an hour, so head down to the staging area and meet up with your support, your gear for the trip should be there as well so look it over and make sure there won't be anything else you'll need to take. Now with everything said and done," Ironwood turned to Winter and gave her a nod. "Alright team head out and complete your assignment. Winter and Morven, I know the success rate of your missions so don't do everything yourself. Make sure you give your apprentices a chance to learn in the field as well. Now everyone, Dismissed."

Winter and Morven snapped a salute and gestured for the other two to follow exiting the room. Checking the time first Winter turned to Morven and asked, "so what do you think happened to the outpost? I mean the intel the General gave us is usually spot on in situations like this, but with everything that's been happening across Remnant lately we should be prepared for anything."

Walking in silence for a moment in thought Morven than replied, "honestly Winter I think this might actually be a straight-forward mission for once, the storms have been hitting much harder lately to the north so if anything we'll have our mechanic rig up a signal booster and hopefully that'll help with the inconsistent signal problem we've been having."

Passing through one more set of double doors the team found themselves in a large hangar bay. Across multiple platforms sat different styles of airships and other vehicles most of which seemed to be partially disassembled. _"So this must be one of the repair bays for Atlas equipment, which means we're here to find our transport and that extra set of hands the General mentioned."_ Fenrir thought to himself looking around trying to find the mechanic but not really sure what to even be looking for.

"Alright team our transport should be right over here with our mechanic doing some last minute checks over our vehicle." Winter said calmly her eyes also seeming to roam around searching before lightning up in a happiness as she spotted the pair of pointed ears sticking out of the mechanics iconic baseball cap. In a very un-Winter like fashion, Winter ran the last couple of feet and scooped up the small worker in a abrupt hug causing him to give a yelp of surprise before realizing who it was that picked him up.

"Ahhhh! Winter don't scare me like that, you almost gave me a heart attack. I'm just looking over our ride one last time before we head out."

Fenrir moved past Winter to get a look at this mechanic froze wirth shock at what he saw. A young fox Faunus, younger than him anyway was wrapped up in a hug by Winter Schnee. A woman who apparently for the most part did not care for the Faunus in anyway.

"Hello Kit, It's certainly good to know that you're our extra pair of hands for this mission, with your help we should be able to get that outpost up and running in no time at all," Winter said in a surprisingly cheerful tone putting their newest ally down.

" _Well that's something I didn't expect."_ Fenrir thought as he watched Winter put the Faunus down leaving the young wolf speechless. _"Who'd have thought that the Ice Queen would act like this around a Faunus and I wonder why."_ Turning towards the Specialist with a questioning look he then noticed a strange sort of feeling in the air, very different from what he felt when Morven used his semblance but still he could tell it was an area of effect semblance.

"Yeah I'll do my best to help and get us there in one piece," Kit said with a sheepish smile turning to the rest of the team. "Hiya Morven, it's been awhile since I've seen you too, has everything been going alright for you, also who are these two I've never seen them before?" He adding pointing to Yang and Fenrir, a curious look on his face

"These are the two new members of our newly formed team, this is Yang Xiao-Long and this is Fenrir Argyros," Morven explained gesturing to each of them. "They'll be in your care as well during our trip so let's make sure that we stay alert and safe as we can on this mission alright."

"You can count on me boss," Kit replied with a wide grin before walking up to Yang and Fenrir and holding out a hand in friendly greeting, "nice to meetcha, I'm Kit. I hope we can get along while we work together."

"Yeah likewise," said Yang offering a friendly smile in response as she shook his hand, her casual acceptance of another Faunus was not missed by Fenrir who nodded before shaking Kit's hand himself.

The second their hands touch both of them froze and the two Faunus stood still eyeballing each other, neither giving any signs of aggression but rather a sort of unconscious acknowledgement.

Getting a good look at Kit finally didn't really reveal much about him to Fen, from what he could see the young Fox was just a kid. He wore a simple set of black coveralls and a matching black ballcap with holes in the top for his red fox ears to stick out.

"So Fenrir right?" Kit asked finally breaking the silence, "you're a wolf right? That's pretty cool that almost makes us brothers." His friendly smile finally wearing his fellow Faunus down and finally returned his grin.

"Yeah I'm a wolf and I gotta say though, seeing you really surprised me, I mean as another Faunus working here in Atlas. Maybe people here are a bit more accepting than I was led to believe," Fen added quietly suspecting that the only other person to hear it beside Kit was Morven who as usual kept quiet.

"Well now that we've all been introduced let's load up and start moving, it's a full two day's journey to the outpost, maybe longer depending on if we get caught in a storm on the way." Morven explained moving towards the hatch opening it up. "Our warming layers are in here too so everyone put on your snowsuits and we can get moving."

The snowsuits turned out be be a pair of thick insulated pants and a matching coat, both a clean bright white with a grey trim along the seams. With each set came a nice set of cold weather boots, a balaclava face mask, goggles, and heavy duty gloves to not only keep their hands warm but also to allow them to still use their weapon effectively as well.

After a bit of a struggle of putting on their respective suits everyone climbed into the APC and conducted their last minute checks before they rolled out into the snow on their way.

Sitting in the back as they rode on Fenrir couldn't help but feel oddly nervous. It was the teams first mission and he felt like it was going too smoothly right of the bat, something he had never had the luck of experiencing. Turning his head he looked over to his companions, Yang to his disappointment was not sitting in the back with the rest of them but rather beside the driver watching Kit operate the vehicle. Right after they had left it was her that had suggested she watch and learn how to operate the APC, just in case something happened and they needed another driver to which Winter agreed that it was a good idea.

" _Yeah it was a good idea,"_ Fen couldn't help but think still feeling slightly irritated. _"But damn, I was hoping we could talk and get to know each other better… I mean we are going to be partners aren't we?"_ Looking back to Morven and Winter he smirked slightly, the ex-Heiress had her eyes closed and was leaning against Morven's shoulder while her partner sat quietly reading what Fen guessed was a more detailed briefing, his eyes occasionally flitting between his partner and his scroll before suddenly snapping to meet Fen's gaze.

"Do you have something on your mind?" Morven asked putting away his scroll before staring back at Fen, a hint of honest interest in his eyes as he thought again before asking," it's something about about the mission isn't it. Or perhaps, it's about Yang?" Immediately Fen's eyes narrowed and his whole body seemed to stiffen up at the mention of Yang. _"Hmmm a touchy subject, I guess he is still young so it makes sense he'd be defensive about that."_

Crossing his arms Fenrir looked away scowling for a moment before muttering, "how are we supposed to be partners if we never get to spend time together. I mean like you and the Ice Queen there, you've probably spent so much time together. It's probably why you're so close."

Up against him Morven felt Winter stiffen up, anticipating she was going to start yelling he gently moved and placed his arm around his agitated partner almost immediately calming her. "Give it time Fen," Morven said trying to reassure his young ward, his gaze also falling onto Yang who seemed completely engrossed in her lesson with Kit. "Here, since we have at least another day or two of travel why don't you switch out with Kit later and have Yang show you what she's learned, besides me everyone will have to take a shift as driver so we can continuously keep moving."

"Hey why does everyone except you have to take a turn?" Fen asked, his tone turning slightly suspicious as he narrowed his eyes. "What are you, too good to drive us all around on a mission or some…" Fen suddenly stopped in mid-sentence and couldn't believe his eyes.

During his short time so far with Morven he had noticed the Specialist was a very reserved character, only allowing hints of emotion at a time to leak from his otherwise mostly expressionless face, if it wasn't for seeing the interaction between this man and his family he would've thought Morven was incapable of feeling anything. Yet now very clearly he could see the embarrassment written across his face as he rubbed the back of his head, the clear attempt to appear nonchalant not fooling the young wolf for a second.

"Well, to be entirely honest. While I am capable of driving this and most other vehicles, I don't necessarily have the best luck whenever I'm in the driver seat." Morven muttered still slightly embarrassed. "In a pinch I'll do what I can Fen, but just know it'll be one hell of a ride," his embarrassment now a slight smile.

Returning the Specialists smile with a friendly smirk Fen nodded and pulled out his headphones deciding to take it easy till his driving shift came up. Hours passed and as the distance between them and Atlas grew, the weather outside had become more and more intense as twice already the team had to stop and reorient themselves before deciding to call it a night.

In hopes the storm would let up in the morning they locked down the APC and readied themselves for the night. While the back of the vehicle was fairly spacious, between five people it was still was fairly cramped due to the extra gear they had brought. Leaving the scanners on in the APC the team called it a night with everyone in the back besides Kit who volunteered to sleep in the front. With that the lights inside dimmed and the team fell into a cramped yet peaceful sleep.

 **Outpost Arrival**

Despite setbacks due to the blizzard they had entered, after another day and a half of travel the team had arrived at the outpost. Fenrir couldn't help but admire the snowy scenery as he pulled the APC into the Garage bay, the snow covered outpost at least one hundred meters had looked almost completely buried. The tower with a large annex at the base looked fairly normal, however damage near the what appeared to be the main entrance caught his attention. From the claw marks and small arms fire it was clear that Grimm had overrun the outpost, and with the lack of signs of movement or life from the building made it possible there were no survivors.

Waiting till after his ward killed the engine, Morven stood up and passed out small ear communicator devices. "Radio check," he said waiting for a thumbs up from the rest of the team before he opened the hatch to their vehicle. The cold air and wind roared around them as one by one they all exited Morven leading the way as they ran towards the umbilical door connecting the garage though an underground tunnel leading to the main facility.

"This place is a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be," Yang whispered to no one in particular being the last one through the door slamming it behind her before seeing Winter motioning for everyone to gather round.

"Alright team," Winter said calmly taking charge. "Now that we've finally arrived we have two main objectives. The primary is to get this outpost back online and connected to the network, and the secondary, now that we can confirm Grimm have been here, we are to find and eliminate any Grimm we find while also searching for survivors. We'll split into two groups to save time." Narrowing her eyes she then sighed, "Morven you and the dog will go and sweep the main area, spot any Grimm eliminate them on sight. Yang, Kit and I will head to the control center. From there our little miracle worker here," gesturing to Kit. "He'll asses the damage to the system and perform the necessary repairs to bring it back online, after that it should just be a simple matter of reactivating the defense grid and we can go back home."

Resisting the urge snap at the older woman's comment, Fenrir instead nodded his head and moved to stand beside Morven, his eyes though for a split second meeting Yang's as they walked to the end on the connecting hallway reaching the main atrium where they parted ways. Winter, Yang and Kit moving down into the lower levels moving towards the control room, while Morven and Fen stayed up top investigating.

While beside minor damage to the entrance indicating a fight had occurred, the inside was another story. There were bodies at choke points and throughout the atrium indicating a resistance to the attack, but with the blood splattered on the walls and floors farther along it was clear that they ended up being overrun.

"So Fen what would you summarize happened here," Morven asked breaking the deathly silence, pausing to kneel down beside one of the bodies taking a closer look at the man's mortal wounds. "The Grimm obviously attacked but what was the response from the personnel here? How did they all end up dying?"

Fen took a look at the bodies around the room and noticed something, besides the fact many were torn to shreds quite a few had bite or claw marks around the back of the neck. With a heavy sigh he looked at his mentor. "Well it's looking like the men here weren't attacked from just one direction, wounds on the back side of the body mean that they were attacked from behind, but body placement for most shows some were killed before they actually tried to retreat."

"Very good Fen," Morven said suddenly drawing Storm Razor and glaring into the darkness of the hallway as a low growl reached his ears from the darkness. "And what does this bring to our attention?"

Fenrir gave a quizzical look before he too heard the low growl and drew his own blades. "I don't know, what are you talking about? Is there something else that happened here?"

"Winter be on guard down there," Morven said over the comms still glaring into the darkness, his sharp eyes catching sight of the Grimm lurking in the shadows attempting to sneak up on them. "There's another breach somewhere in the lower levels, the Grimm have another way in besides the entrance."

"Thanks for the heads up, we just arrived at the control center and it's a mess down here." Winter said shaking her head freezing up suddenly.

Suddenly there was a loud blasting sound over the comms and Yang was heard shouting in the background as the duo were attacked at the same time.

"Kit get behind me!" Blasting the Beowulf that had suddenly lunged at them from an open doorway. The force of her strike slammed the Grimm into the wall with a sickening crack killing it instantly while others began emerge coming in for the attack.

Winter swiftly drew her her own weapon as she elegantly side stepped the Grimm that charged her casually sliding her blade through its side. The momentum from its attack carrying it's now lifeless body into the wall as she danced into action against the others, her blade singing through the air as she expertly sliced and stabbed the incoming Grimm with ease.

Yang couldn't help but stare for a moment as her mentor moved, eliminating the Grimm before the growl of her own opponents brought her back to her senses. Snapping her head in the direction of the threat Yang shot her arm out brushing aside the first Beowulf's claw before driving Ember Celica straight into its chest throwing the beast back into the more of the pack before unleashing a volley of explosive blasts into the group.

Back in the upper level Morven and Fenrir began engaging the Grimm that had come from the shadows, the two wordlessly nodding to each other before darting in and slaying their opponents. While both were clearly more than a match for the attacking Grimm it was obvious the difference in skill between the teacher and the student.

With a single slash Morven cleaved the first Beowulf completely in half, his blade shattering the bone plates on its body before easily passing through the flesh and muscle, as he quickly cut down each new opponent his eyes searched the room looking for the one to be the leader of the pack. _"By killing him, the rest should either dissolve away or flee,"_ he thought to himself deflecting a slashing claw and stabbing the offending Grimm.

"Morven! Do we just keep fighting them or are we trying do do something else?" Fen cried out ducking under a Grimm's claw, using his twin blades Hati and Sköll he made an attempt to slash at the Grimm but scowled when his blade was deflected off it's skull. "Dammit," he growled leaping back to put so me distance between himself and the Grimm before pointing both blades at it's chest, his fingers tightening on the triggers. "You damn monster, go back to hell."

The Beowulf roared before twin blasts from Fenrir's gunblades put a hole in it's chest killing it. The last roar it issued had seemingly threw the rest in a frenzy as the Grimm suddenly began attacking in full force. Through the comm system they could hear Winter and Yang fighting as more and more Grimm poured from the darkness.

" _Something is very wrong here,"_ Morven thought noting the increase in Grimm as they continued fighting. _"There's far too many for them to have been hiding here, it's like every time I cut one down two more show up. So where are they all coming from? It's almost as if…"_ Morven's eyes narrowed as he recalled a recent theory involving large groups of Grimm seeming to appearing out of thin air, it was the result of a speculated species called a summoner, though there had been no recorded evidence of it so it was still just a theory. _"But for a summoner to be here, that would be the only explanation for this number of Grimm."_

Gritting his teeth in annoyance and glaring at the Grimm Morven irritatedly muttered. "Time to thin the pack," his blade cleanly bisecting another Beowulf before beginning to glow a luminous golden color. After a couple seconds the crackle of lightning could be heard a he shouted to Fenrir, "at the count of three quickly close your eyes!"

"One"

Hearing Morven's shout Fen quickly dispatched the Grimm he was fighting and leapt up into the air, switching his swords to bladed whip mode he began rapidly lashing another group, his attacks keeping the group at bay as he waited for Morven's signal.

"Two"

The crackle of lightning was much louder now as Morven stepped forward driving his free hand into the chest one last Beowulf knocking it back before two-handing his sword and pulling it back readying his strike.

"Three"

Fen shut his eyes as a thunderous crack echoed through the outpost, the blinding flash of light from Morven's attack still disoriented him causing him to land from his jump and lose his balance falling to his knees and dropping one of his swords in the process.

"Dammit Morven couldn't you tone that down," Fen shouted squinting his eyes, fumbling on ground for his sword briefly fearing that the Grimm they were fighting were about attack again when he noticed the low pained growls and whines all around them. Rubbing his eyes so he could look around Fens eyes widened in shock at the sight before him.

The Grimm that had been attacking them just seconds earlier were now all across the ground whining and growling, pawing at their faces it was clear they were blinded from whatever it was Morven had done.

"Cmon Fen get up we have a new objective," Morven said helping his ward to feet before glaring at the writhing Grimm around them before continuing. "There's been speculation of a new species of Grimm and now we need to find and eliminate it."

"Great, and you said this was going to be a simple mission," Fen muttered sarcastically before giving Morven a nod. Following his teacher the duo made their way through the facility, watching for more Grimm, if what Morven said was true and a new kind grimm was the cause of the attack on this outpost then this was only the tip of the iceberg.

"We don't know exactly what this Grimm looks like Fen," Morven added looking over his shoulder. "Since that's the case though just keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. Winter, Yang, Kit." He added tapping his earpiece, "You three be careful too, if it gets too much for you to handle fall back and regroup with us."

"Roger that Morven, I'll make sure to keep the kids safe," Winter replied looking back at Kit who was still trying to restore power. A frown crossing her face as he turned and shook his head. "Hey Morven, we might have a bigger problem though. Kit can't restore the from here so we may need to go down to the sublevels and manually restart the generator, but from the looks of things there could be more Grimm down there, and I don't want to leave Kit and Yang alone."

"Alright, Fen and I will take care of it, just make sure that when we get the power back online Kit reactivated the defense grid. With the automated defenses back online we can secure this outpost."

Following Morven and listening to the conversation over comms he couldn't help but ask, "hey Morven. How do you plan on getting the generator started? You a mechanic too or something?"

Morven gave a little chuckle and shook his head. "No I never took the time to learn advanced mechanics like our friend, but most likely all that needs to be done is a jumpstart, and I can accomplish that easily enough with Storm Razor." He said patting his sheathed blade before stopping.

Pulling out his scroll and typing for a moment he nodded suddenly. "Alright there is a service elevator near here that can drop us down to the level with the generator room on it, from there we can quickly jumpstart the core and then finish this mission up." Leading the way Morven navigated the dark hallways they came to the service elevator that he had mentioned before and stopped. "The powers off so looks like we are going to have to climb down, you up for that Fen? I have no problem if your more comfortable going and helping the others protect Kit and the control center."

Fen shot a dark look at Morven and growled, "what makes you think I'd rather do that. You think I'm scared or something?"

"No that's not at all what I think Fen," Morven said calmly as he forced the elevator doors open. First checkin below then and the above he nodded before turning back to Fen.

"I know your brave Fen, I was more or less just asking since most likely there will be some Grimm down here yes, but the girls could use some help and I figured…"

"Imma stop you right there," Fen snapped crossing his arms and rubbing his head before shooting Morven another annoyed look. "I'm going with you, unless you think so highly of yourself that you don't need me."

"Very well Fen, but if I tell you to leave me and run away." Morven's tone suddenly becoming dead serious as he locked eyes with the young wolf. "I don't want you to question it and immediately leave. It could be seconds before your own death if you do not."

The air between Morven and Fen turned tense as they made eye contact, the seriousness of the situation dawning on the young Faunus. Gulping once Fen processed what Morven asked of him and nodded slowly.

Seeming to accept his half-hearted response Morven turned back to the elevator, his tone still serious as he muttered. "Times not on our side Fen, we have to make our move." Not bothering to wait for a response, Morven leapt down the shaft vanishing into the darkness.

Hesitating for a moment Fenrir gritted his teeth and thought again about what Morven had said, making up his mind as he looked down.

"Fuck it. If he can do it so can I," his heart still pounding in fear as he jumped down into the oppressive darkness.

 **AN: Hey guys Keeper here hoping you enjoyed the latest chapter of Edge of Darkness, the cliffhanger was a good way to wrap it up without going into to much.**

 **Now I want to let you know guys know that I'll be going on hiatus for awhile, this is because I've just moved and will be in the progress of looking for work. I apologize if this is an inconvenience but my partner will fill in for me until I return with that in mind please make sure to read and review, until then this is Keeper of the One Winged Angel logging off.**


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